News & Analysis

Today in Toronto an estimated 4,500 parents and other concerned citizens protested against the controversial sex-ed curriculum of Premier Kathleen Wynne. This figure was an estimate provided by the Queen's Park security police.  The massive crowd of parents was very loud and showed their outrage at the audacity of the Liberal Premier's insistence that she will foist her age-inappropriate, overly explicit sex curriculum on their children, no matter what parents think.

CTV journalist Paul Bliss tweeted, "It's among the largest protests against Liberal policy since they [took] power [in] '03". See embedded tweet below with stunning photo taken from inside the Queen's Park media offices.

Hundreds more parents joined a separate protest which took place simultaneously, in London at Victoria Park, in solidarity with the parents at Queen's Park.  According to media reports, the London protest drew 500 protesters. The mix of the protesters was incredibly diverse in terms of ethnicity, cultural background and religion. According to a Chinese-Canadian organizer from a grassroots group called Parents Alliance of Ontario, there were 2,000 Chinese at the protest. A large percentage of the crowd was Muslim, and most of those, women. One could not help but  notice their "momma bear's going to protect her little cub" attitude. They were passionate in their opposition to the Liberal sex agenda and many admitted in private they had voted Liberal in the last election. There was also a large representation of South Asians, Punjabis, Tamil, Sikhs and Hindus. A variety of Christian denominations were also present,

including protestant clergy, as well as many Catholic laity. There were also a number of parents who identified as "non-religious", and came out because they fear the explicit, sexually-charged curriculum could launch their children into premature sexual experimentation.

Two Progressive Conservative (PC) MPPs addressed the crowd, MPP Monte McNaughton (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex) and MPP Jack MacLaren (Carleton-Mississippi Mills).  A third politician, MP Patrick Brown, who is seeking to become PC Party Leader , was unable to attend due to federal business in Ottawa, but sent an encouraging message to parents which was read out by one of the event organizers, former Toronto District School Board Trustee, Sam Sotiropoulos.  

MPP McNaughton assured the crowd: "Kathleen Wynne cannot ignore the tens of thousands of parents in Ontario who are concerned about the new curriculum that’s coming out in September".  He continued with a familiar theme of who gets the say over what children are taught in sensitive areas like human sexuality: "There’s more concerns than just the opt-out clause. It’s the fact that it’s an argument about what’s best for kids, and government control versus parental control.”

MPP MacLaren energized the crowd with a question-and-answer type speech in which even he joined in on the fist-pumping. "The government is going to ram something down your throats that you haven’t even been asked about,” MacLaren said. “And if you had have been asked, what would you have said?”, he continued, to which the the crowd roared "NO"!

The speech read aloud on behalf of PC Leadership hopeful Patrick Brown reiterated that indoctrination and usurping the proper role of parents is something he will oppose: "The schools should stick to teaching facts, not values. It's the parents role to teach values". 

Campaign Life Coalition spokesperson, Jack Fonseca, reminded parents of the insidious influence of convicted child pornographer, Ben Levin, on the curriculum. He excoriated Kathleen Wynne for her continued defense of a program which was written under the direction of a man who confessed to having a pedophilic interest in children:

Many parents recognize in the controversial elements of this curriculum, a pattern to lower childrens’ inhibitions regarding sexual matters and they attribute its presence to Levin. 

Kathleen Wynne’s continual defense of this pedophile influenced sex ed curriculum is inexcusable.

Numerous other parental organizations, religious leaders, and average ordinary parents also gave short speeches. Many of these gave notice to Kathleen Wynne that they are committed to fighting all the way to the next election in 2018 if necessary. They threatened the Liberals will pay a heavy price if they do not repeal the curriculum before September.

One parent's testimony was particularly eye-opening because it revealed that Kathleen Wynne's assurance that parents who object to the curriculum can opt-out their child from class, is a promise she likely intends to break.  A Hamilton father named Steve Tourloukis described his still unresolved, 2-1/2 year long lawsuit against the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB). The legal action was taken because the board refused to give him advance notice of sensitive lesson content for his 2 young children. The HWDSB also refused, in writing, to let him opt-out his children.  

The beleaguered father made it abundantly clear that neither Kathleen Wynne nor anybody in the Liberal government has stepped in to force the HWDSB to honour his legal rights. "I have come to deliver a message that every Ontario parent urgently needs to hear:  Promises for advance notice and opt-outs  are easily made, but not necessarily followed.", the father said.  "I asked my kids’ school for advance notification on lessons dealing with sexual orientation, abortion, birth control... where a conflict with my religious beliefs could arise.   I also asked my kids’ school to allow my children to opt-out if there was a conflict between teaching materials and my family’s faith.   To date I have not yet been successful."   

More protests are being planned including a Parent & Student Strike from May 4 - 11th in which parents across Ontario are encouraged to pull their children out of school for the week, in protest of the sex curriculum.  Learn more at the official Facebook Event page here.

Given the importance of involving new Canadians in this fight who, for the most part, adhere to traditional family values, Campaign Life Coalition has just launched its popular Sex Ed analysis in several foreign languages including Arabic, Chinese, Italian and Spanish.  Access those pages here.