SEX-ED CHALLENGE
Canadian Civil Liberties Association steps into the fray,
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has launched a legal challenge to stop the province’s “discriminatory” sex-education rollback.
The application seeking an injunction was filed Thursday at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice by the rights group and Becky McFarlane, the queer parent of a 10-year-old girl going into Grade 6.
“(We) are doing everything legally possible to keep our classrooms free of censorship, discrimination, stigma, degradation,” said Michael Bryant, executive director and general counsel for the association.
“This directive is a discriminatory misuse of government power. A ham-fisted, dog whis- tle of bigotry, of homophobia, dressed up as a consultation fix.”
A day earlier, the province released a revised interim Health and Physical Education curriculum for Grades 1 to 8, based on material taught between 1998 and 2014.
It replaces a curriculum introduced in 2015, which addressed issues such same-sex relationships, sexual orientation and gender identity.
Speaking outside the courthouse, Bryant said the government “ripped out all of the material in the sex-ed program, other than the heterosexual sex-ed content.”
“It’s as if Becky and her family don’t exist. It’s as if they are the others,” said Bryant.
Their lawyer, Stuart Svonkin, says the province is violating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that guarantees equality and security; the Ontario Human Rights Code that outlaws discrimination; and the Education Act that requires schools be an inclusive environment for students and families.
“We will be asking the court, on an urgent basis, to set this directive aside,” said Svonkin.
Instead, they want the 2015 curriculum to stay in place until the end of public consultations.
Many educators and health professionals support the 2015 curriculum, but some parents say it isn’t age-appropriate. The interim curriculum — based on lesson plans from 2010, but in- cluding material from 1998 — only affects elementary school students. High school students will continue to be taught the 2015 curriculum.
Educators say they are still confused about what can be taught.
Robin Pilkey, chair of the Toronto District School Board, said staff is reviewing the curriculum to ensure students still learn about topics such as gender identity, sexual orientation, online safety and consent.
In recent weeks, unions representing teachers have told members to use their professional judgment.
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, which represents 83,000 public gradeschool teachers, has vowed to defend members who teach the 2015 curriculum, saying the government’s actions conflict with a teacher’s responsibility to ensure students’ safety and the protection of their human rights.
The government has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
When asked about it, Kayla Iafelice, press secretary for Education Minister Lisa Thompson, said, “We are committed to delivering an education system that puts the rights of parents first.”
Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner said the lists of litigants suing the province over the sex-ed rollback “just keep piling up.”
“The premier is running an employment agency for lawyers,” he said.
“I don’t think the people of Ontario want their tax dollars wasted on lawyers. This is what happens when you put ideology over evidence.”