Canadian Groups Host Online Summit to Discuss Parental Rights

People rally in support of parental rights at Queen's Park in Toronto on Oct. 21, 2023. Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times

A virtual summit for those concerned about sexual and gender content in schools and parental rights issues was held online on Jan. 27, organized by the Parents Rights Coalition of Canada.

The online event included presentations on Ontario’s “Trans-Affirming Toolkit,” sexualized materials in schools, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) topics.

Presenters included Melanie Bennett of Our Duty Canada; David Todor, an advocate for parental rights; Bruce Pardy, the executive director of Rights Probe; Shannon Boschy, podcast host and director of APISC Digital Research Foundation; and David Haskell, a researcher and professor.

The online gathering follows months of protests about parental rights held across Canada, including the 1 Million March for Children, which was held in many cities on Sept. 20, 2023.

Protestors showed up to the events over concerns parents have expressed about sexual and gender identity materials in schools.

“This is a protest by parents who are quite concerned about the indoctrination of their children on sexuality, and the sexualization of children in the schools, on issues specifically with SOGI [sexual orientation and gender identity],” said Vincent Gircys, who joined the protest in Toronto.

SOGI 123, a teaching resource, has been used in schools to teach children about inclusivity and social and gender issues.

In British Columbia, those resources are developed by the ARC Foundation. The ARC Foundation has been described as a charity that “collaborates with educators so that students of all sexual orientations and gender identities can live their authentic lives.”

Counter-protestors also turned up at the 1 Million March rallies, calling on opponents to stop spreading “hate.” They said the gatherings were an attack on the LGBT community.

About a month later, on Oct. 21, parents rallied again in cities across Canada, including Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Halifax, Fredericton, St. John’s, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Whitehouse, Charlottetown, and more.

At the end of December, a group of protestors against SOGI 123 materials held an ongoing rally in Abbotsford, B.C., calling for an end to the use of the resources in schools.

“We are dedicated to this cause, we are serious about it,” Kanwalijit Singh told The Epoch Times on Dec. 29. He said they had been protesting the issue for several months.

“It just came to me that I need to because the children are being told to change their gender and all these pornographic books in their faces, and children being confused about whether they’re boys or girls,” he said. “We have many cases from parents letting us know what’s going on in schools.”

One of the parents who was protesting SOGI, Pierre Barns, said he started fighting the teaching resource after his daughter was exposed to content he found concerning.

“I started to communicate with a school board and I was actually able to remove three books,” he said.

“We want to have discussions,” he added. “We want to have more discussions from the other side.”

Saskatchewan Pronoun Policy

Prior to the 1 Million March protests, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announced a new policy for schools in the province that required parental consent for students under 16 to change their names or pronouns.

Mr. Moe’s policy faced a legal challenge by UR Pride, a peer-to-peer support group from the University of Regina. The courts granted a temporary injunction to the policy on Sept. 28.

The Saskatchewan Party introduced legislation that would codify the policy into provincial law and used the notwithstanding clause to move it forward. On Oct. 20, 2023, the Parental Bill of Rights was passed in Saskatchewan.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs made similar changes to Policy 713 in his province, which deals with gender and identity issues.

The changes caused trouble within Mr. Higgs’s own party and nearly led to a leadership review. However, the premier says he believes parental rights will play a big role in the provincial elections in October.

Matthew Horwood, Andrew Chen, and Noé Chartier contributed to this report.