Premier says sex education group will be banned from giving school presentations
Premier Blaine Higgs says he will ban a Quebec-based sex education group from presenting at schools in New Brunswick after a pre‐ sentation he believes was "clearly inappropriate."
The premier took to X, for‐ merly Twitter, to express his displeasure with a presenta‐ tion given at several New Brunswick high schools.
"To say I am furious would be a gross understatement," he said. "This presentation was not part of the New Brunswick curriculum and the content was not flagged for parents in advance.
"The fact that this was shared shows either im‐ proper vetting was done, the group misrepresented the content they would share ... or both."
Higgs said the Depart‐ ment of Education told his of‐ fice the presentation was supposed to be about the sexually transmitted infection human papillomavirus - but it went beyond that.
He shared and criticized a presentation slide that in‐ cludes questions like "do girls masturbate" and "is it good or bad to do anal?"
Teresa Norris, who deliv‐ ered the presentation to sev‐ eral New Brunswick schools last week, denied that schools were misled about what the presentation would cover.
The president and founder of the charity HPV Global Action, which also op‐ erates a youth sexual educa‐ tion resource called Thirsty for the Talk, said she was sur‐ prised and disappointed at Higgs's reaction.
She said the slide Higgs shared was the presenta‐ tion's cover slide. She said it reflects actual questions her group receives from studen‐ ts.
"That excerpt that was taken is an extraction of something that's very grossly misrepresenting what this presentation is about," Norris said.
"All of the topics that we cover are supporting the learning areas. This is some‐ thing that your province has decided ... We're not creating something that the province hasn't already put in place."
Norris said she has been giving presentations at New
Brunswick schools for several years. All schools receive an outline of the topics to be covered and the school must give its consent prior to the presentation, she said.
The presentation is called Healthy Relationships 101. Norris said it is an "A to Z" about relationships and sex‐ uality.
"We are not promoting any of these sexual behav‐ iours ... we talk about absti‐ nence in the presentation, we empower students to help them make decisions about their relationships," she said.
"We teach them to under‐ stand when they are not comfortable, or that they don't feel ready, and to pay attention so that they have those boundaries. Our goal is always to destigmatize con‐ versations about sexual health."
Objectives in the province's high school sex education curriculum include having students define sexu‐ ality, discuss safe sex prac‐ tices that include abstinence, masturbation, condom use and birth control options, and how to handle sexual feelings and sexual pressure.
Andrea Anderson-Mason, MLA for Fundy-the Isles-Saint John West, said she has heard about the presentation from teachers and con‐ stituents with family mem‐ bers who attend Fundy Mid‐ dle-High School.
The Anglophone South School District has not re‐ sponded to a request for comment.
Anderson-Mason said she has a daughter in Grade 12 at the school, but the presen‐ tation was only delivered to Grade 9 to Grade 11 studen‐ ts.
The MLA said reaction has been mixed and she is hoping to see a balanced conversation on the issue.
"When I was in high school, I had a male teacher teach me about breast selfexamination, and at 47 years old I am still grateful for that information and use it," she said. "There is a time and a place and an appropriate‐ ness to talk about our bod‐ ies."
For Norris, the ultimate goal is to help students stay informed and avoid getting into relationship situations they are not ready for.
Despite Higgs's statement, she has not been given any formal message from the province banning the presen‐ tation.
Requests to the premier's office for comment have not been answered.