Ontarians must battle for parental rights before the state outlaws them

The current controversy over the new sex “education” curriculum has become a battle for parental rights. Premier Wynne and Minister Sandals are more than happy to tell parents that if they disagree with the explicit curriculum they can withdraw their children. Words cost little.

In an interview, Minister Sandals has said, “It’s actually in the Education Act that a parent has the right to withdraw their child from content they don’t want their child to receive.” This sounds good as a media statement. But the question that remains unanswered is whether she can be trusted to keep this promise. And the evidence so far points to a No answer.

This is what the former Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty told the Canadian Press when the first edition of the curriculum came out in 2010. He said, “I believe that parents should always have the right to opt out of some curriculum if they feel that’s very important.” Parents were not reassured by the words alone and they were right.  (more...)

Ontarians must battle for parental rights before the state outlaws them