A New Brunswick education council is pushing back against the province’s efforts to have it dissolved.
The Anglophone East District Education Council has released an open letter and is asking residents to sign it.
It calls on the provincial government to reverse its court application seeking to dissolve the council.
“What the government of New Brunswick is doing in Anglophone East is counter to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is undemocratic and it is divisive,” said the letter.
“It is not up to centralized governments, disconnected from local communities, to control the private lives of individuals. Your local elected representation has been under systemic attack by the government of New Brunswick.
“We believe that you, through the representation of the DEC, should be able to set policies in schools based on what is best for your communities. The government of New Brunswick is trying to dismantle that right.”
Hundreds of people had already added their names to the letter as of late Tuesday afternoon, one day after it went live.
Education Minister Bill Hogan claims the DEC misused more than $400,000 by launching a legal battle over Policy 713, the province’s school gender identity policy.
But the council has argued the controversial changes made to the policy are discriminatory and endanger students.
A Court of King’s Bench justice is scheduled to hear the case on Nov. 14.
