Ontario’s recently elected premier Kathleen Wynne has indicated that her administration will bring back a controversial sex-ed curriculum which was proposed by previous Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty. McGuinty shelved the program after a backlash. You can read articles about this in Xtra (a gay and lesbian publication) and LifeSiteNews (a pro-life and family values oriented publication). Naturally, they take slightly different approaches to the topic.
The new curriculum introduces more explicit discussion of sexuality into earlier age groups. Sex education would begin in grade 1. Discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation would begin in grade 3. Classroom exploration of masturbation and oral and anal sex would begin in grades 6 and 7. The new curriculum was proposed for all Ontario schools, including Catholic schools. (Ontario, unfortunately, does not have other publically-funded faith-based schools).
Many parents might be concerned that their children were learning about these explicit sexual topics at such a young age. What is particularly concerning in the Ontario case, though, is the attack on religious freedom and on the denominational separate school rights protected in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Catholic schools have a right to exist, and a right to be authentically Catholic. The proposals of the Ontario government would force Catholic schools to teach concepts, such as anal sex and masturbation, which are out of the bounds of Catholic teaching. (It would be sort of like forcing a Muslim school to have a mandatory wine tasting course).
Our organization strongly opposes any efforts to introduce these types of one-size-fits-all approaches to sex education. Ontario has already taken significant and unacceptable steps to restrict parental authority, school choice, and religious freedom. Let’s make sure we don’t go down the same path here in Alberta.