Poll Shows Opposition to Sex-Ed Curriculum on the Rise
The Toronto Star published a new Forum poll asking whether people support the government's proposed changes to the sex-ed curriculum. Of 912 people sampled, 42% support the changes and 40% oppose them, while 17% weren't sure, according to Star columnist Robert Benzie.
Forum president Lorne Bozinoff interpreted the results to mean:
"those opposed to the new health education curriculum are getting their message heard. They are well-organized, and have access to parent and school groups, where a lot of community information is spread."
Benzie reported on a similar Forum poll in March that showed the number of people disapproving of the curriculum at around 33%. The new poll reflects opposition to the sex-ed program has grown 7% in the past month. The unpopularity of the changes has resulted in numerous protests across the province, from Windsor to London, at Queen's Park and around the 905 belt of ridings in the GTA. Many other polls run by other media outlets since the release of the curriculum show between 60 and 80% of those sampled oppose the curriculum, but the fact that the Star has run two polls on this issue shows that even the left-leaning Star recognizes that something is seriously amiss here.
Rallies took place at Celebration Square in Mississauga and at the Vasakhi Parade in Brampton on May 3.
Benzie mentions that sex-ed has featured in the lead-up to the PC leadership vote. Opposition to the sex ed program was part of the platform of one of the candidates in the Progressive Conservative leadership race, Monte McNaughton. Though McNaughton has now dropped out of the race, candidate Patrick Brown has pledged to oppose the curriculum if elected. In a TV debate with MPP Christine Elliott, the other remaining contender, Brown said he was intentionally taking a page out of the playbook of the federal Conservatives, who have successfully reached out in the past several federal elections to the ethnic communities in the 905 area.
The race continues until May 7, with results to be announced on the weekend. A win for Brown and a defeat for Elliott, who has positioned herself as the "progressive" candidate on the issue, would mean that angry parents will have a voice in the Legislature, once Brown gains a seat.
Sex-Ed on its Way into Federal Election, Wynne Says
Premier Kathleen Wynne has been warning that the federal Conservatives themselves are mobilizing opposition to the curriculum in an effort to hurt the Liberals in the upcoming federal election in the fall. Corey Laroque reported in the Ottawa Sun that Wynne tried to put distance between herself and the feds in comments she made to an audience in Ottawa by pointing out that education is not a federal issue. We copy the full story below, along with Benzie's story on the Forum poll.
Be a Part of the Sex-Ed Solution
Please help PAFE continue to link activists across the province and coordinate them to bring political action on this issue. You can donate today in one of three ways:
1) by cheque, made out to PAFE, sent to 2336 Bloor St. W., PO Box 84556, Toronto, ON M6S 4Z7
2) by email transfer
3) by Paypal
Best regards,
Teresa Pierre, PhD, President
Parents as First Educators (PAFE)
Ontarians divided over new sex education curriculum, poll suggests Premier Kathleen Wynne's revised sex education curriculum modernizing teaching plans that dated back to 1998 has divided Ontarians, a new poll suggests
By: Ontario's sex ed program a 'wedge issue' in federal election, Wynne says
By Corey Larocque, Ottawa Sun
First posted: Thursday, April 30, 2015
Ontario's new sexual education curriculum will be a "wedge issue" when Canadians go to the polls in October, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne predicts.
"That, by the way, is going to be an issue in the federal election," Wynne said Thursday during a speech in Ottawa where an audience member congratulated her for overhauling the program for Ontario's schools.
Wynne's Liberal government brought in sweeping changes in February to what Ontario students will learn in class about the facts of life and how early they're taught about same-sex couples, oral sex and modern issues like 'sexting.'
She said the new curriculum is based on the what education research says is in the "best interests of our kids."
Wynne said she has heard federal Conservatives might try to mobilize opposition to the Liberal sex ed. program in attempts to hurt federal Liberal candidates on the campaign trail later this year.
"It's not a federal issue," she told reporters, but provincial Liberals might need to wade into the fray to defend their policy and to help federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and other federal Liberal candidates.
"We have to be prepared," she said told an audience of 200, which included some prominent Ottawa Liberals.
Wynne was in Ottawa Thursday to speak to Famous 5 Ottawa, an organization named after five trail-blazing women in the 1920s who won rights for women to be involved in politics. (They're memorialized in a sculpture on Parliament Hill and on the back of the new $50 bill). The Ottawa chapter celebrates "ordinary women doing extraordinary things."
Wynne received Famous 5 Ottawa's Nation-Builder award at Thursday's luncheon.
The Toronto Star published a new Forum poll asking whether people support the government's proposed changes to the sex-ed curriculum. Of 912 people sampled, 42% support the changes and 40% oppose them, while 17% weren't sure, according to Star columnist Robert Benzie.
Forum president Lorne Bozinoff interpreted the results to mean:
"those opposed to the new health education curriculum are getting their message heard. They are well-organized, and have access to parent and school groups, where a lot of community information is spread."
Benzie reported on a similar Forum poll in March that showed the number of people disapproving of the curriculum at around 33%. The new poll reflects opposition to the sex-ed program has grown 7% in the past month. The unpopularity of the changes has resulted in numerous protests across the province, from Windsor to London, at Queen's Park and around the 905 belt of ridings in the GTA. Many other polls run by other media outlets since the release of the curriculum show between 60 and 80% of those sampled oppose the curriculum, but the fact that the Star has run two polls on this issue shows that even the left-leaning Star recognizes that something is seriously amiss here.
Rallies took place at Celebration Square in Mississauga and at the Vasakhi Parade in Brampton on May 3.
Benzie mentions that sex-ed has featured in the lead-up to the PC leadership vote. Opposition to the sex ed program was part of the platform of one of the candidates in the Progressive Conservative leadership race, Monte McNaughton. Though McNaughton has now dropped out of the race, candidate Patrick Brown has pledged to oppose the curriculum if elected. In a TV debate with MPP Christine Elliott, the other remaining contender, Brown said he was intentionally taking a page out of the playbook of the federal Conservatives, who have successfully reached out in the past several federal elections to the ethnic communities in the 905 area.
The race continues until May 7, with results to be announced on the weekend. A win for Brown and a defeat for Elliott, who has positioned herself as the "progressive" candidate on the issue, would mean that angry parents will have a voice in the Legislature, once Brown gains a seat.
Sex-Ed on its Way into Federal Election, Wynne Says
Premier Kathleen Wynne has been warning that the federal Conservatives themselves are mobilizing opposition to the curriculum in an effort to hurt the Liberals in the upcoming federal election in the fall. Corey Laroque reported in the Ottawa Sun that Wynne tried to put distance between herself and the feds in comments she made to an audience in Ottawa by pointing out that education is not a federal issue. We copy the full story below, along with Benzie's story on the Forum poll.
Be a Part of the Sex-Ed Solution
Please help PAFE continue to link activists across the province and coordinate them to bring political action on this issue. You can donate today in one of three ways:
1) by cheque, made out to PAFE, sent to 2336 Bloor St. W., PO Box 84556, Toronto, ON M6S 4Z7
2) by email transfer
3) by Paypal
Best regards,
Teresa Pierre, PhD, President
Parents as First Educators (PAFE)
Ontarians divided over new sex education curriculum, poll suggests Premier Kathleen Wynne's revised sex education curriculum modernizing teaching plans that dated back to 1998 has divided Ontarians, a new poll suggests
By: Ontario's sex ed program a 'wedge issue' in federal election, Wynne says
By Corey Larocque, Ottawa Sun
First posted: Thursday, April 30, 2015
Ontario's new sexual education curriculum will be a "wedge issue" when Canadians go to the polls in October, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne predicts.
"That, by the way, is going to be an issue in the federal election," Wynne said Thursday during a speech in Ottawa where an audience member congratulated her for overhauling the program for Ontario's schools.
Wynne's Liberal government brought in sweeping changes in February to what Ontario students will learn in class about the facts of life and how early they're taught about same-sex couples, oral sex and modern issues like 'sexting.'
She said the new curriculum is based on the what education research says is in the "best interests of our kids."
Wynne said she has heard federal Conservatives might try to mobilize opposition to the Liberal sex ed. program in attempts to hurt federal Liberal candidates on the campaign trail later this year.
"It's not a federal issue," she told reporters, but provincial Liberals might need to wade into the fray to defend their policy and to help federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and other federal Liberal candidates.
"We have to be prepared," she said told an audience of 200, which included some prominent Ottawa Liberals.
Wynne was in Ottawa Thursday to speak to Famous 5 Ottawa, an organization named after five trail-blazing women in the 1920s who won rights for women to be involved in politics. (They're memorialized in a sculpture on Parliament Hill and on the back of the new $50 bill). The Ottawa chapter celebrates "ordinary women doing extraordinary things."
Wynne received Famous 5 Ottawa's Nation-Builder award at Thursday's luncheon.
