Sex-ed now prominent in Ontario Tory race
Dormant social conservatism emerging again
For more than two years, t he Ontario Tories have managed to skirt around the kind of social- conservative flashpoints that have brought them little but grief in the past. But as the party’s leadership race picks up momentum — and a surprise, potential fourth candidate — that unofficial moratorium appears to be ending.
Two of the three most prominent contenders say they will at least revisit the controversial new sex-education curriculum introduced by the Liberal government, with one charging Monday it is riddled with “Liberal ideology,” the other promising she would allow free votes on questions of conscience. And the newest would- be entrant — Tanya Granic Allen, head of a parents group that opposed the sex-ed revamp — is pledging to make sex- ed and similar issues her prime focus.
Pro- life groups are suddenly energized, and hope the candidates will also debate the Liberal law passed last fall that created “bubble zones” around abortion clinics, rendering pro- life protests illegal within 50 metres.
“We have been crying for three years, unwanted in our party, but now are back in the fold,” said Charles McVety, Ontario’s most prominent evangelical Christian activist.
Allen said she will use her candidacy to “force” those issues to the fore — so long as she raises the $ 100,000 needed to officially run.
“There are a lot of grassroots conservatives who feel disenfranchised, who feel shut out of this party,” she said in an interview Friday. “I’m here to be their voice.”
The more mainstream candidates are undoubtedly eager to corral some of those Tories, too. Reaching out to social conservatives may well be a “shrewd” shortterm strategy, says pollster Greg Lyle, head of the Innovative Research Group.
In an abbreviated leadership contest where signing up new members is crucial to victory, Christian and prolife groups could be mobilized relatively easily with the right policies, generating significant support, he said.
But campaigning against the sex-ed program in a general election, where social conservatives would make up only about 20 per cent of the electorate, is another matter, he said.
“It’s a very risky thing for the Conservatives,” said Lyle. “If the 80 per cent that don’t believe in socially conservative values feel you might then try and impose those values on them, then the backlash would not be worth the price.”
To understand the perils of a social-conservative-tinged platform, Conservatives need look back no further than their loss in the 2007 election. Thenleader John Tory’s promise of government funding for faith-based schools proved a policy catastrophe.
Perhaps not coincidentally, social conservative issues last had a profile during the PCs’ 2015 leadership race. Patrick Brown won, in part by trading on his reputation as a pro- lifer who opposed same- sex marriage while an MP. MPP Monte McNaughton, the social conserva- tives’ standard bearer at the time, sealed the deal when he pulled out of the race and backed Brown.
But the new leader soon edged away from such stances, marched in a Pride parade and supported the sexed program, infuriating the so-con faction.
Brown resigned suddenly last month over allegations of sexual misconduct that he vehemently denies. As he left, the door opened again to the social issues he had eschewed.
The sex- ed curriculum, with its teaching about body parts, gender identities, anal sex and masturbation, is at the top of the list, having generated noisy pushback among many families.
Leadership hopeful Caroline Mulroney is “disappointed” that Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals did not consult more with parents before bringing in the curriculum. But “this has been debated and as leader she would not reopen this issue,” said spokeswoman Melissa Lantsman.
Surprisingly, though, one of the first caucus members to endorse Mulroney was McNaughton, who had once led the charge against sex-ed.
Among the other candidates, Christine Elliott, a former provincial cabinet minister, told the Toronto Sun she would be willing to revisit the curriculum, consulting with parents who felt it was forced on them. Sexed, she said, has to be “age appropriate.” On Monday, she tweeted that under her leadership, “the PC Party will always allow free votes on matters of conscience. Our big blue tent has room for all conservatives!”
Doug Ford, former Toronto mayoral candidate, has been a little more forceful on the sex ed question, committing to review the program. On Monday, he blasted both the Liberals for not consulting parents on the curriculum, and Brown for not allowing Conservatives to debate the issue internally. “We cannot expect Ontarians to trust us to consult parents on curriculum when we do not even consult with our own members,” he said in a statement. “If I am elected leader, I will take this issue to the party, to parents, and to the voters.”
McVety, for one, sees Ford as the social conservatives’ man, noting that the brother of late mayor Rob Ford also managed to reverse a city of Toronto decision to cancel the “Jesus in the City” parade.
“He is not a perfect candidate but I am convinced he will fix the economy and will restore family values.”
The Campaign Life Coalition — Canada’s biggest antiabortion group — will throw its support behind Granic Allen, said spokesman Jack Fonseca. And he argued that his and similar groups could generate enough new Conservative memberships to give her a real chance in the race.