Provinces Stand Up for Parents’ Right to Be Informed About Child’s Gender Change

Parents walk their children to school in North Vancouver on Sept. 10, 2020. The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward

Many top provincial officials across Canada have recently said parents have a right to know if their children are changing genders at school. Although the push to keep this secret is still strong, especially in some provinces, “the tide is rather quickly changing,” says activist Julia Malott.

Malott is a transgender person who has long spoken against the common practice of schools encouraging gender transition without parental consent, and has been involved in back-room talks with the Ontario government on the issue. Although Malott knew Education Minister Stephen Lecce was likely to speak for parental rights at some point, the early timing of his announcement came as a surprise.

Lecce said at a press conference on Aug. 28 that his ministry’s official position is that parents should be informed.

“We have to respect the rights of parents, recognizing that these can be life-changing decisions,” he said. He fell short, however, of saying he would make policy changes to enforce that position. A petition started by advocacy group Parents as First Educators calls on him to back up his statement with legislation.

Still, Lecce’s announcement is evidence of a “pendulum swing,” Malott says. “People are understanding that there’s a balance.”

Ontario Minister of Education Stephen Lecce speaks to media at Queen's Park in Toronto on June 9, 2020. The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette

That balance is about supporting all students, while also respecting parental rights, Malott said, adding that parents have a bigger picture than the teachers. For example, they know about comorbidities in terms of mental health issues, and are better suited to decide how to handle gender dysphoria, Malott added.

Recent public opinion polls, along with several premiers recently speaking out, may have given Lecce courage, Malott said.

An Angus Reid poll published on Aug. 28 showed that 78 percent of Canadians think parents should be informed. A May poll by SecondStreet.org similarly found a majority in favour of informing parents.

Provinces

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs was the first to make headlines this year with policy changes to protect parental rights. On Aug. 22, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announced he would do the same. At a press conference on Aug. 17, Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson made a campaign promise to follow suit if re-elected. Next was Lecce, on behalf of Premier Doug Ford’s government in Ontario.

In 2019, Alberta repealed a policy that stopped teachers from informing parents if their children joined LGBT clubs or transitioned genders. It seems, however, that teachers are not compelled to tell parents, either.

Earlier this year, a teacher in Calgary told her Grade 6 class to keep their classmate’s new gender identity secret from her parents, the National Post reported.

Alberta’s education ministry did not reply specifically to The Epoch Times questions regarding policy, but gave a statement via email that Minister Demetrios Nicolaides would like to “create an inclusive environment for all students, while recognizing the fundamental role parents play.”

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs speaks to media outside Government House in Fredericton following a cabinet shuffle on June 27, 2023. Stephen MacGillivray/The Canadian Press

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe speaks at a press conference in Regina on Dec. 9, 2020. The Canadian Press/Michael Bell

In Nova Scotia, parental consent must be sought for students up to Grade 6 to change their pronouns or names at school. Beyond that, parental consent is not required and, presumably, parents will not be notified. Nova Scotia’s education ministry told The Epoch Times via email that it will not comment further.

Northwest Territories Premier Caroline Cochrane said in an emailed statement that information regarding a student’s gender transitioning should be handled “in a way that is appropriate for the level of consent and privacy the student has given.”

The offices of the premiers in Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, British Columbia, Yukon, and Nunavut did not respond to inquiries as to their positions on parental rights, in light of the recent statements by premiers Higgs, Moe, and Stefanson.

Federal Position

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke out against Higgs’s policy changes at a fundraiser in Toronto on June 8.

“Far-right political actors are trying to outdo themselves with the types of cruelty and isolation they can inflict on these already vulnerable people,” he said. “Right now, trans kids in New Brunswick are being told they don’t have the right to be their true selves, that they need to ask permission.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 2, 2023. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 11, 2023. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said at the time that the federal government should not get involved in New Brunswick’s decisions.

More recently, however, Poilievre told Awaz media that parents should be the “final authority on the values and the lessons that are taught to children.”

“I believe in parental rights, and parental rights come before the government’s right,” he said on Aug. 20.

Parental Rights Law

Ottawa parent Pamela Buffone has fought for her rights as a parent to determine what her child is taught regarding gender.

She took her case to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal when her 6-year-old daughter’s teacher talked to the class in detail about gender fluidity. Her daughter started to express uncertainty about being a girl. Though the tribunal dismissed her case in 2022, Buffone has continued to probe such matters as part of the group Canadian Gender Report.

“In Canada, unfortunately, parental rights are not very clearly defined,” Buffone told The Epoch Times. “I think it is fairly well understood in Canada that parents are the primary guardians and are responsible for the well-being of their children. I think that’s just common sense and has sort of gone without saying. Maybe it’s time to make it explicit.”

Working with a retired lawyer who is part of the group, Buffone has learned about the legal footing arguably upholding a parent’s right to know. For example, a 2015 Supreme Court decision interpreted the charter-guaranteed right to school choice as including “the right to be informed.”

Buffone and Malott both say failing to inform parents is not a “neutral act.” It actively enforces a social gender transitioning that can head pretty quickly toward medical changes, they each said. And, in many cases, parental consent is not required for those procedures either.

The Path of Medicalization

The age at which a child can receive hormone treatments or even surgery, such as a mastectomy, without parental consent varies from province to province, but the age of consent is generally considered to be about 14, Buffone says.

This was established through case law regarding doctors prescribing birth control pills to minors in the past.

The Epoch Times tried to confirm with some provincial health authorities the age of consent for gender-affirmation treatments or sex-reassignment surgeries, but did not receive answers by press time.

Ontario legislation says a health-care professional may provide such treatments to someone under the age of 18 if he or she is “capable with respect to the treatment and consents to the provision of the treatment.” However, it does not give a minimum age for being “capable.”

Alienating Children From Parents

Malott said that not informing parents can also cause children to become alienated from their parents. Malott knows from experience that keeping gender transitioning secret from one’s parents drives a wedge into that relationship. “At some point, you’re going to have to tell your parents; you can’t hide that forever,” Malott said.

Teachers, peers, and LGBT groups become a child’s primary community and start to replace the family, Malott said.

“What happens two or three years in, you’ve now distanced yourself from your parents. It’s brand new to them, and they’re a bit shocked. You don’t have tolerance for that, because this isn’t new to you. It’s been going on for years behind their backs. It’s not a good recipe for strengthening that relationship or even helping it survive.”

Malott has a school-aged daughter, and notes that with school starting soon the school will ask for parental confirmation on address, allergies, and so on.

“I‘ll have to sign off on if she can have her photo taken and all of this, but I wouldn’t be told if she is going by a male name and be calling ’him' at school and has professed to the teachers that she wants to have a mastectomy,” Malott said. “That is shocking and quite concerning.”