‘Not Up to the School Board to Indoctrinate Our Kids’: Ontario Premier Takes Stand on Parental Rights

Province has stopped short of introducing policy on pronouns, gender identity

A large crowd of protesters gather outside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office to protest gender ideology in schools, in Ottawa on June 24, 2023. Protesters carried signs and chanted, "Leave our kids alone." Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times

As some provinces are creating new policies to address children’s preferred pronouns and gender identity issues, Ontario Premier Doug Ford recently took a stance on parental rights, suggesting that school boards are not supposed to be “indoctrinating” children but stopping short of announcing a formal mandate on the matter.

“Most important is the parents’ rights. The parents’ rights to listen and make sure they are informed when their children make a decision,” Mr. Ford said as part of a speech he gave on Sept. 8 in Kitchener, Ontario, at Ford Fest, his annual family barbecue and event.

“It’s not up to the teachers, it’s not up to the school board, to indoctrinate our kids,“ said Mr. Ford. ”it’s the parents’ responsibility to hear what the kids are doing.”

The Ontario premier is only the latest provincial official to make a statement about parents having a right to know if their child is trying to change pronouns or genders at school. However, despite making statements on the subject, Ontario has left the issue to school boards and has not put any official policy in place.

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce said at a press conference on Aug. 28 that parents must be “fully involved” if a student wants to change his or her gender identity or pronouns at school, but he did not commit to any formal policy or mandate.

“Parents must be fully involved and fully aware of what’s happening in the life of their children. I mean, often there are health implications,” Mr. Lecce said in response to a question about whether Ontario will bring in parental inclusion policies similar to those announced in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.

“I think we have to respect the rights of parents, recognizing that these can be life-changing decisions,” said the education minister. “I think parents want to be involved so that they can support their kids, and I think that’s a really important principle that we must uphold.”

Dozens of students gather at Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School to protest against gender ideology, in Ottawa on June 15, 2023. Matthew Horwood/The Epoch Times

“As an overarching value system, I really do believe that parents need to be fully aware, fully engaged, and school boards need to be transparent with parents. I mean, they are the legal guardians, they love their kids, they want to be aware of what’s happening in the life of their children, in their schools,” Mr. Lecce said.

Pressed by reporters on whether the Ministry of Education would be issuing a directive on the subject to school boards, Mr. Lecce said it would be up to individual school boards to make policy.

“Parents have a right to know and we will respect parental rights,” he responded. “We think boards must do the same.”

Advocacy organization Parents As First Educators launched a petition on Aug. 29, the day after Mr. Lecce made his remarks, calling on him to back up his commitment to parental rights with action.

“Ontario Education Minister, Hon. Stephen Lecce, mandate school boards to obtain parental consent before schools recognize children’s name or pronoun changes at school,” the petition said.

Other Provinces

Both Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have brought in formal policies upholding parental rights and requiring schools to seek permission from parents or guardians to change a child’s preferred name and pronouns used at school if they are under the age of 16.

Polls may be impacting how politicians are responding to the issue. An Angus Reid poll whose results were published on Aug. 28 showed that 78 percent of Canadians believe parents should be informed if their child wants to change his or her gender identity or pronoun. A poll by SecondStreet.org in May similarly found a majority (57 percent) in favour of informing parents.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs was the first provincial leader to take that stand for parental rights, announcing a policy on June 8 that as of July 1, students under 16 cannot change their names or pronouns in school without parental consent..

Saskatchewan announced a set of new parental inclusion and consent policies for its schools on Aug. 22, effective that day. One of the policies says schools “must seek parent/guardian permission when changing the preferred name and pronouns used by students under the age of 16 in the school.”

Protesters from "Save Canada" and Chris Elston (L) sing the Canadian national anthem during a protest against gender ideology in Ottawa on June 9, 2023. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

Another policy states that parents and guardians must “be informed about the sexual health education curriculum and have the option to decline their children’s participation.”

Still another policy says school boards “must immediately pause involvement with any third-party organization” undertaking sexual health education while the ministry of education does a review of educational resources “to ensure alignment with curriculum outcomes.”

“I’ve been asked what experts we consulted in creating the Parental Inclusion and Consent policy. I believe the leading experts in children’s upbringing are their parents,” said Premier Scott Moe on the social media platform X on Aug. 27.

At a news conference in Manitoba on Aug. 17, Progressive Conservative Premier Heather Stefanson also announced her party would be proceeding with an updated policy on parental rights if re-elected.

“You raised them and nurtured them, so who better than you—as parents—to know what’s best for your child as you send them off to school,” said Ms. Stefanson.