Premier's pledge to drop DEC dissolution yet to be fulfilled, court to set hearing dates
Lawyer for province says he's yet to get instructions from new minister
Court cases between the province and a school district stemming from changes to Policy 713 continue to move ahead, despite the premier's promise that at least one of the cases would be dropped.
Former education minister Bill Hogan asked a judge to approve dissolving the Anglophone East district education council over its spending on a lawsuit challenging changes to the gender identity policy. The district also sought a judicial review of Hogan's decision to not cover the education council's legal costs.
Premier Susan Holt has said the province would drop the dissolution request. Holt also said she supports the principle of education councils being able to hire lawyers to sue the province.
The two cases were back in Moncton court Thursday morning. Court of King's Bench Justice Christa Bourque asked if there was an update.
Clarence Bennett, a lawyer representing Education Minister Claire Johnson, said he had yet to receive new instructions following the October election.
"The minister has been in that position for less than two weeks, as well she's still being briefed on the issues around Policy 126 and everything related to it," Bennett said, referring to a policy dealing with whether the province funds education council legal costs.
"We're content to schedule the three days for the hearing that [Anglophone East lawyers] requested."
Bennett said he hoped the dates could be set to give the minister enough time to decide whether any aspects could be resolved without the hearing.
"But other than that, I can't do anything today to help the court other than keep the matter moving."
The judge said the court clerk would communicate with the lawyers about potential dates for the hearing.
Bourque asked the lawyers to provide an update if there are changes, noting the court could use the time for other cases.
Darren Blois, a lawyer representing the district education council, said in an interview Thursday that he's confident the province will follow through on the premier's commitment.
"It's frustrating that the bureaucracy hasn't been able to get those instructions down to the government's lawyers yet so it can be made official in court," Blois said.
While the cases remain active, Blois said the legal bills continue to increase.
CBC News has requested comment from the minister but instead received a statement from department spokesperson Diana Chávez.
The statement didn't commit to dropping the cases, but instead said the department "intends to find a way forward by working collaboratively with the district" to resolve the case, saying discussions on that are expected to happen in the near future.
The district and the province have three ongoing cases related to changes to education Policy 713. Last year, Hogan changed the policy to require school staff to seek the consent of a parent when a student under 16 wants to use a new name or pronoun informally at school.
In the spring, Anglophone East filed lawsuit alleging the changes violate Charter language rights, life and liberty rights and equity rights. A judge ruled the district didn't have standing to bring the case to court, a decision that has been appealed.
Hogan filed the dissolution application in July, arguing the education council was misspending money on lawyers for the Charter challenge.
In August, Hogan rejected the district's request for the province to cover its legal costs. Anglophone East in October filed a separate case asking a judge to review that decision.
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With files from Pascal Raiche-Nogue