Protesting sex-ed repeal in Peterborough
Crowd gathers at Confederation Square to call on the province to reinstate curriculum
The new Progressive Conservative government’s decision to repeal the updated sexual education curriculum was met with protest in Peterborough Saturday as a group gathered at Confederation Square.
Speakers addressing the loss of the 2015 curriculum, which introduced issues such as consent, online sexual behaviour and gender identity, included Marion Burton (Peterborough District Labour Council), Shirley Bell (Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario), Dave Warda (Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation), Wayne Bonner (public board trustee), Diane Therrien (city councillor, mayoral candidate), Lisa Clarke (Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre), Nick Taylor (Peterborough Poetry Collective), Rosemary Ganley (writer and teacher), Janette Platana (author, educator), Kemi Akapo (city council candidate) and Sneha Wadhwani.
Teachers have expressed confusion about the government’s rollback of the sex-ed curriculum to its 1998 predecessor. In the days after the announcement of the change, the education ministry then issued several clarifications about its plans. Some teachers have said they are unclear about what to teach kids this fall.
Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith told Peterborough This Week that a newer curriculum will be developed with extensive parental consultation, and
would meet the needs of Ontario parents and students. "We are the Progressive Conservative Party, not just the Conservative Party," he says. "It's not the party of your grandparents."
The new curriculum met with protests from parent groups when it was introduced in 2015.
An earlier attempt to introduce the updated curriculum in 2010 was dropped by then-Premier Dalton McGuinty after protests from parents and social convervative groups like Canada Christian College, which accused the province of “pandering to homosexuality.”
The new curriculum was implemented in 2015 by McGuinty’s successor, Kathleen Wynne, but brought back the same criticism.
A group called Concerned Parents of Peterborough held regular protests outside the offices of then-MPP Jeff Leal. Members of the group said the new curriculum was age-inappropriate, and used the slogan Let Kids Be Kids.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people rallied at Queen’s Park Saturday to protest the change, with NDP Leader Andrea Horwath on hand.
Supporters of the new curriculum say its updated information and approach can help protect children from bullying and discrimination.
“If gay kids don’t know it’s OK to be gay, they are stressed, depressed and that can destroy their relationships with their friends and families,” gay activist Carol Pasternak told The Toronto Star. “They need to know that being gay is normal. The hatred and lack of understanding is killing us.”