Blowing whistles and waving signs, Ontarioâs elementary school teachers descended on Queenâs Park to protest the Progressive Conservative governmentâs decision to return to a decades-old sex-ed curriculum.
Following its annual meeting at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto this morning, members of the Elementary Teachersâ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) took to the sidewalks to voice their objection to Premier Doug Fordâs divisive plan to repeal the current sex-ed curriculum introduced by the provincial Liberals in 2015 and revert to a previous version first developed in 1998.
At issue for opponents of the current lesson plan is the inclusion of topics such as same-sex marriage, gender identity and masturbation. The 2015 curriculum also addresses other concepts such as consent, cyber safety, bullying, and LGBTQ rights.
In July, Fordâs government announced it would follow through with its campaign promise to scrap the current sex-ed curriculum. In its stead, the Tories intend to revert to the 1998 lesson plan while consultations with parents and teachers are conducted throughout the province.
During the Tuesday morning meeting, ETFO leaders and Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath argued the Toriesâ plan would compromise student safety and urged ETFOâs 60,000 members to continue teaching the current sex-ed curriculum come September.
âDoug Ford wants to drag our schools backwards, in fact, in the few weeks heâs been in power, heâs already started dragging them back,â Horwath told delegates on Tuesday. âHeâs taking our curriculum back to the last century and heâs hurting Ontarioâs most vulnerable youth in the process.â
Sam Hammond, the unionâs president, told CTV Toronto that EFTO is prepared to do âwhatever is necessaryâ to defend its members who defy the governmentâs directive in the classrooms.
âWe intend to and will defend our members in any way that we need to on a go-forward basis,â he told ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝ Channel during the protest. âWe are advising them to use their professional judgement, thatâs enshrined in our collective agreements and ministry documents, to teach any or all parts of the 2015, the current modern curriculum.â
Hammond said that approximately a thousand of the unionâs members, along with other community groups and parents, participated in the protest on Queenâs Park. He said the union would like to see the dispute resolved as soon as possible; but in the meantime, he thinks the current curriculum should stay in place.
âDonât cause all of this chaos. Leave it in place,â he urged the Tories. âDo your consultations and weâll move forward together.â
Tensions flare in question period
The debate also spilled over into the legislature when a heated exchange between Horwath and Ford took centre stage during the summer sessionâs final sitting.
Horwath slammed Ford for putting students at risk by not educating children about bullying and online safety.
In response, Ford pivoted to the topic of Ontario studentsâ math scores lagging behind those in other provinces.
To which Horwath responded with: âIf they have been raped or bullied, math wonât matter very much to them will it?â
During the campaign, Ford vowed on numerous occasions to repeal the current sex-ed curriculum because he said parents had not been adequately consulted on it. The premier has also promised to replace the existing teaching plan with one that is âage-appropriate.â
With files from CTV Toronto and The Canadian Press