For almost two years, the province of New Brunswick has had a policy that required teachers to use the preferred names and genders of schoolchildren.
But under a new policy introduced by the provincial leader, Premier Blaine Higgs, teachers must get the permission of parents if the child is under the age of 16.
The new policy, which does not require legislative approval, has created a political firestorm that has the potential to topple his government.
Backlash mounted against him during a week when Canada was outraged by a mother’s accusation that a man questioned her 9-year-old daughter’s gender at a shot-put competition in Kelowna, British Columbia.