Morrice for parental rights, book committee

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This article was published 11/10/2023 (1074 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For Kara Morrice, running for school trustee in the Brandon School District Ward 1 byelection means offering Brandonites a more diverse option.

Morrice, who was born and raised in Brandon and went through the Brandon school system, says she has been closely following what has been happening at school board meetings for the past eight months, and believes the current board needs some fresh faces.

“I just think that the current board that we have is not really as diverse, or a diverse representation of our students, our community,” Morrice told the Sun. “Obviously, I don’t want to offend anyone, but like, the thing is, I don’t think that the board we have right now really represents all of our community that’s out there.”

Specifically, Morrice said the May 23 decision the school board made to reject a proposition to review and possibly ban books with subject matter surrounding gender identity and sexual health does not represent the community’s wishes.

The proposition was first brought forward during a board meeting on May 8 by former trustee Lorraine Hackenschmidt. On May 23, following a lengthy meeting that went into the early hours of the next day, trustees Kim Fallis, Blaine Foley, Jason Gobeil, Linda Ross, Duncan Ross and Jim Murray all denounced Hackenschmidt’s proposal and voted against it. The only holdout was Breeanna Sieklicki, who said that some books in the school division’s curriculum should be subject to review given their alleged “graphic” nature.

Trustee Calistus Ekenna could not attend the May 23-24 meeting due to a personal matter and did not vote but went on record saying he did not support the creation of a book review committee.

It’s a sentiment that Morrice disagrees with.

“I don’t think that the vote went necessarily the way that everybody in our community feels,” she said.

When it comes to which books Morrice believes do not belong in schools, she mentioned “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, fearing that books could be accessible to all ages.

Morrice wasn’t certain which schools — elementaries, middle schools or high schools — had a copy of Kobabe’s book in their libraries.

“I have no idea. I just know that when Lorraine [Hackenschmidt] made her claims, I know that they were backed up,” she said.

Morrice says one of the books she took issue with that Hackenschmidt highlighted was one that touched on violence against women, though she did not share the title of the book.

“This book references how terrible it is to be a woman — it’s like a murder scene every month. Well, you know what I mean? That seems a little bit over the top,” Morrice said.

Every six days, a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner, and half of all women in Canada have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16, the Canadian Women’s Foundation’s website says. About 80 per cent of sex trafficking victims in Canada are women and girls, and 67 per cent of Canadians know a woman who has experienced physical or sexual abuse.

A hot-button issue this election — and the recent Manitoba provincial election — has been the issue of “parental rights.” The Progressive Conservatives used the term in August during an announcement about modifying the Public School Act to include more parental oversight.

However, critics of such a move have labelled it not only unnecessary and redundant, but an anti-LGBTQ+ dog whistle, especially after new education policies in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan that require children under 16 to have parental consent before changing their preferred first names or pronouns at school.

On he candidate profile that appears on the City of Brandon’s website, parental rights are at the top of the concerns Morrice would tackle if she were elected, and she told the Sun that parents should be privy to information on changed names or pronouns.

“I don’t think that should be kept from you. I don’t think that they should have the authority to do that,” she said.

Another issue Morrice feels passionately about is getting more supports for teachers and more supports for students with learning disabilities. There seems to be some children who get special funding because of challenges or issues and others who do not, she said, which is challenging for teachers.

“I honestly think that I feel bad for the teachers, because they have so many students and they all have different needs and abilities, and then you add in curriculum changes,” Morrice said. “I don’t know how they do it.”

If elected, Morrice said she would ensure that, through budgeting, the “most amount of money” that can go to classrooms makes its way there because that’s where it’s needed most.

Morrice’s child needed speech therapy when they went through the school system, and after advocating for it, other children were able to get those services too, Morrice said.

“That kind of makes me feel that you’re helping other kids, too.”

Ideally, Morrice would also like to see more counselling services be made available for students at school, and that those services shouldn’t fall on the teacher to provide.

“Obviously, you have teachers that are kind of like that person that kind of takes on everything, but you can only do so much,” she said.

Other issues Morrice would like to bring up with the board if elected include lobbying for school maintenance upgrades, supporting students getting into trades to address the shortage of skilled workers, and the need to build more schools in Brandon as the city grows.

The school board byelections will take place on Oct. 25.

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