While Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Premier Doug Ford have both said parents should be informed when their children are transitioning genders at school, the province’s school boards have continued with policies that parents should not be informed.
When Malott spoke with The Epoch Times shortly after Lecce’s comments in favour of parental rights in August 2023, Malott was hopeful that the Ford government might continue to work on the issue.
“I think that they are still trying to figure out how to move these policies forward in a workable, balanced way,” Malott said. “They’ve been working with parents on all sides trying to understand what does that balance really look like.”
Now, Malott is urging Lecce to issue a ministry order. “If Lecce believes that parents ’must be fully involved' then an order is long overdue,” Malott wrote.
Alberta’s government made strong policy changes this week to school gender identity policies, including a requirement that parents be informed in all cases when children are using different pronouns and names at school. It follows similar school policy changes in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick last year.
Lecce’s office did not respond to inquiries about any intentions to legislate parental rights or issue formal guidance to schools.
Meanwhile, Ontario school boards have been upholding policies that prevent parents from being informed.
Gender Identity Procedure
School staff training on Jan. 18 for the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) said keeping name and pronoun changes confidential is important, as doing otherwise could put students “at risk.”“Student safety is always the priority, and educators must be cautious that they do not inadvertently communicate something to a parent/guardian/caregiver that may ‘out’ a student and put the student at risk,” the procedure says.
The procedure has been a topic of debate at school board meetings, including a meeting on Aug. 9, 2023. A discussion at that meeting revealed that the procedure was written by board staff, and trustees have no control over it. Trustees only have a say on “policies,” not the “procedures” written under the umbrella of those policies.
Parental Concerns
At a Waterloo Regional District School Board (WRDSB) meeting on Jan. 22, father and parental rights advocate David Todor spoke out against what he sees as the board’s opposition to parental rights.He took issue with the many school days dedicated to sexual orientation and gender identity celebrations, such as Pronoun Day and Coming Out Day, and with third-party organizations that visit the schools and provide students with information about medical gender-reassignment procedures. He also took issue with a recent board vote to keep books in elementary and high school libraries that he and others have raised concerns about.
Todor read an excerpt from one of those books available to elementary students, titled “The Other Boy,” by M.G. Hennessey. It was about a girl who goes by the name Shane taking puberty blockers and planning to get testosterone injections.
“What happens if he stops taking the shots? That’s reversible too, right?” a character in the book asks. A doctor responds, “Not entirely. ... Some of the changes will be permanent.” The doctor says Shane will have skipped female puberty and likely will not be able to have children naturally. “It’s cool,” Shane replies.
“This book attempts to normalize and downplay the side effects of medical intervention,” Tudor said.
Summit Takes Pulse of Parental Rights
The summit began with a review of a new federally funded guidance document titled “Trans-Affirming Education in Schools: An Educator Toolkit.”The toolkit says teachers must go beyond the “inclusive” approach to gender identity, an example of which is relying on certain events (such as Pride Month) to discuss the issue. The toolkit says a stronger “affirming” approach is needed, weaving gender identity into learning for all grades and subjects.
“Every single student needs to learn about gender diversity in all areas of the curriculum, inclusive of science and mathematics, and not just in language arts and history,” the toolkit states.
It gives various hypothetical teacher responses as an example of “transphobic resistance” to such teaching.
“I work with really young children. This is not an important issue for this age group,” is one.
“I am not comfortable using these terms in my classroom because I do not think children should be taught about these topics,” is another.
Although Minister Lecce received much attention for statements last year saying publicly funded schools should celebrate Pride Month, Malott pointed out that he has also stood against pushes for gender ideology in schools.
“They say parents are hateful, parents are bigots,” Tudor said. “I remember a time when having sexual discussions with children was completely inappropriate.”
Bruce Pardy, a law professor at Queen’s University and executive director of Rights Probe who spoke at the summit, said parental rights essentially don’t exist legally.
“I’m talking legally, I’m not talking morally,” he said.
For example, he said, a 12-year-old could go to a health-care practitioner and start receiving “gender-affirming” medical treatments. The law says if that child is capable of understanding the consequences, capable of consent, the doctor may proceed.
The doctor is permitted by law to rely on his or her “presumption” that the child is capable. If that’s not actually the case, he or she is not liable.
Every court case in the past decade that has pitted LGBT rights against the rights of others, has sided with the LGBT side, said David Haskell, an associate professor in the faculty of Liberal Arts at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Shannon Boschy, a member of PRCOC and moderator for the event, said interest in parental rights has grown vastly in the past year or two. He has been active on the issue since his daughter decided to transition in 2021.
