PC push to boost ‘parental rights’ under scrutiny

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This article was published 18/08/2023 (1035 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Progressive Conservative’s desire to modify the Public Schools Act to further emphasize “parental rights” is drawing fire from critics, with some characterizing it as redundant while others believe it is a blatant anti-LGBTQ+ “dog whistle.”

On Thursday morning, the PCs outlined their plans to modify the act during a news conference in Winnipeg, with Premier Heather Stefanson revealing that this legislation hasn’t been updated since 1996.

“A lot has changed in 30 years,” Stefanson said in an accompanying news release. “What we’re hearing is parents want to be better informed so they can make decisions on behalf of their children.”

While there are already seven basic rights enshrined in the Public Schools Act for parents — including “the right to be informed regularly of attendance and behaviour” and “the right to access his or her child’s pupil file” — the Tories are looking to add four extra provisions if they are re-elected this fall.

These new proposed additions are “the right to be informed about curriculum,” “the right to be involved in addressing bullying and other behaviour changes,” “the right to consent before any image of the child is made, shared or stored” and “the right to advance notice before any presentations are made in school from outside the school system.”

However, these potential changes to the Public Schools Act drew puzzled reactions from local education officials.

Brandon Teachers’ Association president Tammy Tutkaluk, for example, told the Sun that there are already systems in place that address much of what was brought up on Thursday, especially the proposed addition concerning “the right to be informed about curriculum.”

Not only are all Manitoba curriculums currently accessible online, but Tutkaluk also mentioned that parents are told well in advance about topics that are considered “sensitive” in nature.

“An example of this would be the grade 5 & [6] health curriculum that deals with human anatomy and STDs,” Tutkaluk wrote in an email.

“A note is sent home with children in these grades for the parents to opt out of that particular part of the class, with the expectation that their child would receive the instruction at home from the parent.”

When it comes to the “right to consent before any image of the child is made, shared or stored,” the BTA president mentioned that the Brandon School Division currently requires parents to sign off on a permission form that allows their child, and their child’s work, to be photographed or shared.

BSD school board chairperson Linda Ross was similarly confused by the PCs’ proposed changes to the Public Schools Act, believing there is a distinct “political” element at play.

To Ross, the rhetoric surrounding more parental oversight is reminiscent of the language she’s heard over the past couple months, where a small but vocal group of concerned parents pushed to establish a book review committee within the division.

Many of the books this group flagged as being potentially damaging to children dealt with subject matter surrounding gender identity or sexual health. This book review initiative prompted a large response from members of the local LGBTQ+ community, who believe that this group is using a concern for students’ well-being to push a purely bigoted agenda.

While the BSD board ultimately voted against establishing this book review committee on May 24, Ross said this sentiment has continued to linger in this community and other parts of the province, even bleeding into Thursday’s announcement.

“And it does look like it is a message to some of the smaller groups who are making their views known these days,” she said.

Brandon Pride chairperson Aly Wowchuk was of a similar mind about the proposed changes, explaining that certain conservative groups across the country have adopted this tactic of passing off anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment under the guise of “parental rights.”

In New Brunswick, for example, the government made several revisions to its sexual orientation and gender identity policy (Policy 713) in June, one of which requires children under 16 to have parental consent before they can officially change their preferred first names or pronouns at school. This change prompted widespread backlash from LGBTQ+ students and their allies, with the province’s child and youth advocate stating that this modification violated the protected rights of these students under the Human Rights Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“Young kids have their safe spaces and sometimes schools are their safe space to really explore their identity or ideas or ask questions between friends and teachers in confidence, when they don’t have specific spaces at home to do that,” Wowchuk said.

“So yeah, there are some red flags in [Thursday’s announcement] and anyone who sat in those school meetings recently or back in May has heard this language from these individuals.”

Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew took a moment to address this topic during his crime platform announcement on Thursday, making specific reference to the recent book banning controversy in Brandon and how the PCs are running with that same parental rights playbook with their proposed changes to the Public Schools Act.

“Heather Stefanson and the PCs are trying to divide Manitobans,” he said. “In this case, they are very clearly blowing a dog whistle about LGBTQ folks. This is just like the Brandon situation, where she refused to condemn the idea of these book bans targeting trans folks in our community.”

In response to the NDP leader’s comments, Conservative MLA Rochelle Squires, who attended Thursday’s announcement about the Public Schools Act in person, stated in an email to the Sun that “Unlike Wab Kinew, we believe Manitoba parents have the right to be informed of what is going on with their kids in school.”

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com