Social Development Minister Dorothy Shephard resigned from her cabinet position due to the government's Policy 713 and what she says is New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs' frequent dismissals of his cabinet and caucus.. Dorothy Shephard .The controversy surrounding Policy 713 intensified after the government made several changes to the policy. The issue caused a political uproar in the province and country. Even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called informing parents if their child under 16 is transgender “far right.”.READ MORE Trudeau calls informing parents of transgender child as ‘far-right.According to Higgs, the changes made to Policy 713 are intended to involve parents, who he said are the “foundation of society.” .Higgs stated the Policy 713 changes aim to strike a balance between the rights of children and parents..Higgs made remarks that included a statement about gender dysphoria, which the Mayo Clinic defines as “the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics” and that being transgender has become “trendy.”.Transportation Minister Jeff Carr, Local Government Minister Daniel Allain, Post-Secondary Education Minister Trevor Holder, and backbenchers Andrea Anderson-Mason and Ross Wetmore, along with Shephard, defied their party and supported the Liberal motion to keep the policy the same..The two other Tories, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Arlene Dunn and Service New Brunswick Minister Jill Green, who had also expressed opposition to the changes, were absent during the vote..Despite being in the minority, the six Tory rebels helped pass the Liberal motion by a vote of 26-20 after two hours of “heated” debate..Following the vote, Shephard gave her resignation from the cabinet to Higgs in a handwritten letter. She told reporters she intends to remain in the Progressive Conservative caucus and has “friends there.”.“I hope that I can still be a good influence, and I still want to represent my constituents. I am a Progressive Conservative,” said Shephard..“I resigned because it’s not just about Policy 713, but I was proud today to stand and support that motion. I resigned because there is no process. Cabinet and caucus are routinely dismissed.”.“I have been struggling with this since October 2021,” said Shephard. .“I have had colleagues and friends encourage me to stay in the inner circle, to do the best I can do. I feel I’ve done that, but I’ve run out of runway. There’s no accomplishing anything more in this cabinet, and so I’m ready to leave.”.When asked if the other five Tory rebels who supported the Liberals motion would face disciplinary action, Higgs replied that he did not have an answer..“I think it’s unfortunate that if someone says, ‘Well, I didn’t get the vote I wanted,’ or ‘the majority of caucus didn’t agree with me’ that you walk away,” said Higgs. .“But as you can see, we have the majority of our caucus here that are certainly in support, and we’ll find a path through it.”
