Quebec Education Minister Rejects Calls for Committee on Gender Identity, Opts for Expert Panel

Bernard Drainville said gender issues could be exploited for partisan reasons

A large crowd of protesters gathers outside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office to protest teachings about gender ideology in schools, in Ottawa on June 24, 2023. Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times

Quebec’s education minister says he will not create a legislative committee on gender identity, stating he prefers a panel of experts to study the issue and avoid political exploitation.

Minister Bernard Drainville said on Sept. 13 at a news conference that the issue could be exploited for partisan reasons by political parties during committee hearings, and so he preferred to put in place an expert panel by Christmas to consider the issues.

The statement by the education minister followed calls by Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, leader of the Parti Québécois, earlier in the day for a parliamentary commission to consider hotly debated issues surrounding gendered bathrooms, new pronouns, and youth with gender dysphoria.

“I see a lot of ideology coming from the radical left that is imposed, and that’s where I have a problem, when we impose concepts, ways of doing new programs in the education system without prior democratic debate,” said Mr. Drainville.

He added that “parents ... entrust their children to the state,” so governments must respect that.

Gender Headlines

A number of issues concerning gender identity have made the news in recent weeks.

In August, police said they were investigating threats made to a “nonbinary” part-time teacher who prefers to be addressed with the pronoun Mx. In a letter to parents later shared on social media, the school principal said Mx. is an honorific for individuals who do not identify as male or female.

A spokesperson for the school district, Centre de service scolaire des Hautes-Rivieres, south of Montreal, said the sharing of the letter on social media resulted in abuse and defamatory, threatening comments.

Mr. Drainville asked people to remain calm and told reporters that threats and insults were not acceptable and that the government would consider how students should address the “nonbinary” teacher.

Following this incident, Mr. Drainville said on Sept. 12 that he opposed a decision made by École secondaire d’Iberville in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, to undertake work to offer “gender-neutral” washrooms for boys and girls by the 2024–25 academic session.

Speaking on the issue at a news conference on the day Parliament reconvened in Quebec City, Mr. Drainville said the school “needs to rectify the situation.”

“We don’t think it’s a good idea” to have boys and girls in the same bathroom, he said.

“A young girl 12, 13, 14 years old who is starting to have her period, for example, and who leaves a stall, and there are 13-, 14-year-old boys looking at her. Insults, sarcasm, humiliation. A scenario we don’t want, so I think we have to draw a line and the line, we’re drawing it now.”

Mr. Drainville said individual bathrooms of mixed gender may be acceptable.

Other Provinces

Quebec is the most recent province to have entered the gender debate. On Aug. 28, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce said parents must be “fully involved” if students want to change their gender identity or pronouns at school, but stopped short of committing to legislation on the issue. Instead, he said that the government’s position had been clearly communicated to school boards.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford also added his take on the matter, stating school boards are not supposed to be “indoctrinating” children.

“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.”

Just a day earlier, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said parents are the “leading experts” on their children, following criticism of his government for implementing a new policy that requires parental consent to change a child’s pronouns or gender identity at school.

Mr. Moe also shared the results of a new Angus Reid poll on Aug. 28 and said there was “strong support” in Saskatchewan and across Canada for parental inclusion and consent in education. Mr. Moe cited poll results that said 86 percent of adults in the province supported “some level of notification for parents when children want to change their gender identity in school.”

‘Parental Inclusion’ Policy

Saskatchewan is the latest province to bring in a new “parental inclusion and consent” policy. In part, it requires that schools seek permission from parents or guardians to change a child’s preferred name and pronouns used at school while they are under the age of 16.

New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs implemented a similar policy on June 8. Mr. Higgs said the province had to find a solution “where we do not exclude parents in their child’s life.” He said the policy is “taking a strong position for families” and stands up for parents.

New Brunswick Minister of Education Bill Hogan announced that as of July 1, students under the age of 16 cannot change their names or pronouns in school without parental consent. The new policy requires the school to talk to students about contacting their parents on the issue, or to direct the student to a mental health professional to “work with them in the development of a plan to speak with their parents if and when they are ready to do so.”

“We believe that it’s fundamentally wrong to not share this information with the parents if we are using [a student’s preferred name] on a daily basis,” Mr. Hogan said.

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 reelected.

“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.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.