New Brunswick Education Minister Bill Hogan has begun the formal process to dissolve the Anglophone East District Education Council (DEC).
Hogan first threatened the move in May, calling on the DEC to drop a legal challenge of the province’s revisions to Policy 713. In an order in council dated May 9, Hogan was given clearance by cabinet to apply to the Court of King’s Bench to dissolve the DEC.
Hogan has argued that the DEC is spending operational funding on the legal case, while DEC membership say they are using the funds to protect the best interest of children in the Anglophone East school district.
The provincial government revised Policy 713 last year in order to require parental consent for students under 16 to informally use a different name or pronoun in the learning environment that is different from their birth gender.
Several school districts have adopted policies that restore the original wording.
The policy is also subject to an ongoing judicial review and Charter challenge filed by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which argues the new policy infringes on the Education Act and student’s Charter rights.
Hogan was not immediately available for comment.
More to come…