Government overrides school board in ‘mature minor’ controversy

The Manitoba government has vetoed the Steinbach school board’s plan to override common law by making parents the ultimate authority on all student health issues.

Since Hanover School Division trustees approved a motion to disregard the category of “mature minors” just over two months ago, there has been widespread debate.

Trustees unanimously voted to stop honouring the mature minor doctrine — in which teenagers 16 and older are automatically assumed to have the maturity to make medical decisions for themselves — at the end of the 2025-26 school year.

“We would just encourage the Hanover School Division to do what they do best, which is providing high-level, quality education for the kids in their community,” Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said in an interview on Tuesday about her July 22 directive to the board to repeal its motion.

“We trust our health-care professionals to deliver health care across our province, including in our school divisions.”

Southern Health-Santé Sud runs three school clinics, one of which is based out of Steinbach Regional Secondary School in Hanover.

Along with attending classes and participating in extracurricular activities, students can access walk-in services, mental health resources and renew prescriptions on site throughout the school year. The clinic is staffed by two part-time nurse practitioners and a receptionist.

“We would just encourage the Hanover School Division to do what they do best, which is providing high-level, quality education for the kids in their community.”

Last month, Schmidt sent a letter to Hanover board chair Dallas Wiebe to outline her “significant concerns” about the legality of a motion that targets the clinic’s ability to deliver programming.

The three-page letter details provincial and federal legislation in support of mature minor rights, as well as the category’s common law status.

“Your presumed knowledge of your legal and constitutional responsibilities would lead a reasonable observer to conclude you passed this motion at best for public attention and at worst to pick a fight,” she wrote in the July 22 letter.

Schmidt also warned that the board’s failure to repeal the motion “and/or failure(s) to manage the affairs of the board in a satisfactory manner” could result in the appointment of an official trustee.

There has been no shortage of controversy surrounding the nine-member board’s activities since the 2022 election. Its four-year term is up at the end of October.

The Hanover Parent Alliance for Diversity — whose members have been, along with Manitoba’s youth advocate, Sherry Gott, outspoken critics of the recent policymaking discussions — has repeatedly decried trustee comments and actions as divisive and discriminatory against members of the LGBTTQ+ community.

“Your presumed knowledge of your legal and constitutional responsibilities would lead a reasonable observer to conclude you passed this motion at best for public attention and at worst to pick a fight.”

Schmidt’s predecessor, the late Nello Altomare, tapped retired superintendent Kelly Barkman to serve as an independent adviser to the Hanover board in August 2024.

Jerica Capistrano said she’s hopeful the next iteration of the board will not approve “blanket policies,” such as the outright rejection of the mature minor doctrine.

“We, as parents, really all have the same goal, to love and protect our kids and understanding what that means for individual circumstances is crucial,” said the mother of four who started an online petition to call on trustees to respect student autonomy and health-care providers’ expertise.

Capistrano’s campaign has collected upwards of 1,125 signatures since she launched it via Change.org on June 11.

“Schools serve as safe environments where students can seek advice and services related to sexual and reproductive health, mental well-being, and more,” she wrote in her public appeal to the board.

“Many minors face barriers at home that make it difficult or unsafe for them to discuss health issues with their parents. For these students, school-based health care is not just a convenience — it’s a necessity.”

“Schools serve as safe environments where students can seek advice and services related to sexual and reproductive health, mental well-being, and more.”

Health Minister Uzoma Asagawara recently penned a letter to the Hanover high school clinic’s team to thank employees for their professionalism and assure them operations can continue as usual in 2026-27.

The clinic “will continue to uphold the mature minor doctrine and provide safe, accessible care for all youth,” a spokesperson for Southern Health-Santé Sud said in a statement Tuesday.

The health region operates similar clinics at Portage Collegiate Institute and Morden Collegiate.

When Hanover trustee Cheryl Froese initially introduced the motion on June 2, she likened a mature minor to a “cheeseless cheeseburger.”

Froese argued all parents should be kept in the know about physical and mental health treatments, including counselling, available through the division, regardless of student age and maturity.

“They may as well have passed a motion telling teachers they were allowed to smoke in the classrooms — it was essentially meaningless,” said Daniel Dacombe, a father of two who described being “perplexed” upon learning about the motion that appeared to ask staff to break the law.

Board chair Dallas Wiebe and vice-chair Jeff Friesen did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. Superintendent Joe Thiessen was out of the office and could not be reached before deadline.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Minister’s letter to Hanover school board