MOUNT STEWART, PEI — The executive director of the PEI Transgender Network says two candidates for school trustees in Zone 7 should end their candidacy.

PEI Transgender Network executive director Lucky Fusca posted the call for the candidates to step down after hearing the responses of Laura Braden and Patty van Diepen to questions posed during a candidates’ meet-and-greet held in Mount Stewart on Oct. 25.

In an interview with SaltWire on Oct. 27, Fusca’s biggest criticisms were directed at van Diepen and a letter she wrote in 2021 that suggests students’ gender identities are feelings, not facts. Fusca also took issue with Braden using the term “blue” when answering a question at the event that everyone should feel safe at school.

“That’s just so inappropriate to me to use a random color,” Fusca said.

Fusca said it was important to recognize that unique challenges exist for youth who are racialized and for those who are transgender.

“This is something that is happening in the schools, whether or not people want to open up their ideas and see that it is occurring,” Fusca told SaltWire.

A Statistics Canada study released this month found sexually or gender-diverse youth were most at risk of bullying. The study found 77 per cent experienced bullying and that sexually- and gender-diverse youth experienced bullying more often than cisgender youth.

Aside from Braden and van Diepen, two other candidates, Brittany Jakubiec and Kelsey Curran, are running in Zone 7. Curran did not attend the Zone 7 candidates’ forum on Oct. 25.


At a glance

  • Mail-in ballots for the Public Schools Branch and the La Commission scolaire de langue française can be applied for at electionspei.ca until midnight Oct. 29.
  • Unofficial results will be announced Nov. 10.

Responses

Fusca attended the Oct. 25 meet-the-candidates event, having read van Diepen’s letter, and asked each of the candidates what intersectionality, diversity and inclusion meant to them.

Braden said she had never been asked this question before. She also said the school system is responsible to ensure all students learn in a safe environment.

“It doesn’t matter if you are blue, black, white, if you are gay or straight, if you are trans,” Braden said. “They deserve respect regardless.”

Van Diepen said the terms were “a bit out of my wheelhouse.”

“Every child should be respected and should be safe. I think that would be paramount,” Van Diepen said.

Laura Braden, Patty van Diepen and Brittany Jakubiec pose after taking part in a candidates' meet-and-greet event in Ward 7 at Mount Stewart Consolidated School Oct.  25. PEI The executive director of the PEI Transgender Network later called for the removal of Braden and van Diepen as candidates after questioning their understanding of gender identity issues.  - Stu Neatby
Laura Braden, Patty van Diepen and Brittany Jakubiec pose after taking part in a candidates’ meet-and-greet event in Ward 7 at Mount Stewart Consolidated School Oct. 25. PEI The executive director of the PEI Transgender Network later called for the removal of Braden and van Diepen as candidates after questioning their understanding of gender identity issues. – Stu Neatby

Jakubiec said the words intersectionality, inclusivity and inclusion, for her, meant that schools need to be made more equitable for students who are vulnerable and marginalized.

She said PEI’s schools do prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, sexuality and race.

“And yet it occurs in our schools. It occurs in our communities,” Jakubiec said.

Fusca told SaltWire that only Jakubiec’s response indicated an understanding of the concepts of intersectionality, inclusivity and diversity.

2021 letter

The letter Fusca had read was a letter to the editor van Diepen penned to the Eastern Graphic in September 2021.

In it, van Diepen said schools should “stick to the basics of teaching core subjects and back away from affirming young children’s sexual identities.”

“While I readily acknowledge that the individuals’ feelings are real; they are not factual,” van Diepen wrote in the letter.

Fusca said the letter was filled with misinformation.

“She very publicly claimed that she doesn’t have the best interest of all individuals within the school system,” Fusca said.

In an Oct. 27 interview, van Diepen confirmed she does not agree with the province’s gender diversity and inclusion policy.

She said conversations about sexuality should be had at home and that schools should instead be focused on educational outcomes.

“Bullying or that type of thing — it’s not limited to someone who is struggling with their gender identity. Bullying has been around for a long, long time,” she said. “That’s why the school system, in general, has a zero tolerance. They don’t want any kind of abuse or bullying to any students. To me, that’s the most inclusive you can get.”

Students and supporters wore rainbow colors and raised Pride flags outside of East Wiltshire Intermediate School on June 14, 2021. The rally was organized after reports circulated of students being bullied for taking part in Pride and Rainbow Day activities.  - Beth Johnston/Special to SaltWire Network
Students and supporters wore rainbow colors and raised Pride flags outside of East Wiltshire Intermediate School on June 14, 2021. The rally was organized after reports circulated of students being bullied for taking part in Pride and Rainbow Day activities. – Beth Johnston/Special to SaltWire Network

In an interview, Braden said she had not read van Diepen’s letter and was not familiar with the province’s gender diversity and inclusion guidelines. But Braden said she agreed with promoting inclusivity and reducing bullying.

“Nobody should be bullied,” Braden said. “Children in the school system — irrespective of your sexual identity, your gender, your religion, your creed or your color – need to be treated like a human.”

Braden also said the questions posed by Fusca at the meeting felt “pointed.”

“It didn’t feel like a very friendly environment at all,” Braden said.

Neither Braden nor van Diepen has indicated that they will be withdrawing their candidacy.


Stu Neatby is a political reporter with the SaltWire Network in Prince Edward Island. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @stu_neatby.

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