FREDERICTON, NEW BRUNSWICK — Nicki Lyons-MacFarlane said it was a “punch in the gut” to find a postcard in their mailbox Friday from an anti-abortion group claiming “gender ideology” was being taught in schools and that it was leading to “surgical mutilation.”
But for Lyons-MacFarlane, who uses they/them pronouns, their concern immediately turned to the many transgender and gender-diverse youth they work with who may have received the card, too.
“As a trans adult, it’s hard enough,” said the 34-year-old, who is the provincial NDP candidate for Fredericton’s South-Silverwood district.
“I can’t imagine having a parent of a trans child pulling this out of the mailbox, or even being a trans kid getting the mail and seeing this … it’s hate speech. It’s hate mail.”
The Campaign Life Coalition is mailing about 160,000 such cards to homes across New Brunswick, said Jack Fonseca, the group’s director of political operations. The group fears Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs’s strict policy on gender identity in schools will be reversed if the Tories lose the upcoming election, Fonseca said.
The policy is also under fire from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, he added.
“It was urgent to educate New Brunswickers that their parental rights are at risk,” Fonseca said.
Higgs is expected to make “parental rights” part of his re-election platform, in a vote that has not yet been scheduled but which must take place by Oct. 21. The premier uses the term to defend his government’s changes to Policy 713, which require a parent’s consent before teachers can use the preferred names and pronouns of students under 16.
The Campaign Life Coalition postcards, entitled “Pushing transgenderism in schools harms children,” show a man at a chalkboard who appears to be writing terms including “nonbinary” and “gender identity.” A young child surrounded by question marks looks puzzled.
“Let’s stop confusing children in New Brunswick classrooms!” the card says on one side.
Chris Pritchett, a business owner in Durham Bridge, N.B., said the Campaign Life Coalition postcards are spreading misinformation and “fearmongering.”
“It’s villainizing our teachers, who are only concerned about the safety, education, health and happiness of the kids in their classes,” Pritchett said in a Facebook message to The Canadian Press.
Pritchett and Lyons-MacFarlane agreed that Canada Post should not be mailing the cards. Lyons-MacFarlane suggested the federal Crown postal agency should review its policies about what it will and will not deliver.
In an email, a Canada Post spokesperson said the company understands the concerns about the postcard campaign but does not have the right to refuse a mail item because the company or its employees object to the item’s contents.
Canada Post is overseen by the federal minister of public services and procurement, Jean-Yves Duclos.
“We were deeply concerned to hear about this situation and the potential harm that this type of mailer can cause to the 2SLGBTQI+ community, particularly at this time, when far-right extremist groups are increasingly targeting the 2SLGBTQI+ community,” Duclos’ office said in an emailed statement.
Helen Kennedy, executive director of LGBTQ advocacy group Egale Canada, also condemned the contents of the postcard, but she stopped short of calling on Canada Post to halt their mailing.
“The outright false information being delivered to people’s doorsteps is clearly meant to cause fear and panic when we should instead be focusing on ensuring that schools are safe and inclusive environments for all students,” Kennedy said.
The Campaign Life Coalition is headquartered in Ontario and it organizes a national Pride flag “walkout,” wherein parents are encouraged to keep their kids home to protest schools flying Pride flags.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2024.
— by Sarah Smellie in St. John’s
The Canadian Press
