Dramatic Turnaround: Ontario Premier Backs Down - Explicit Sex Ed Needs 'Serious Rethink'

From LifeSiteNews
By Patrick B. Craine

After intense criticism in recent days, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced this afternoon that he has decided to delay implementing the government's controversial and explicit new elementary sex ed curriculum.

"It's become pretty obvious to us that we need to give this a serious rethink,” he told reporters. He admitted that the changes in the new curriculum had been communicated poorly, and noted that parents were clearly distressed over it. The government must "find a policy and a curriculum that [parents are] comfortable with,” he said.

“The net we cast in terms of consulting was too narrow,” he added.

The curriculum, which is the first new version in the province since 1998, was quietly posted to the Ministry of Education's website in January, without a summary of the changes. It had been slated to be implemented in all Ontario schools by September.

The program as currently laid out sees sex ed begin in grade 1, with the naming of genitalia and other body parts. By grade 3, students were to learn about “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” and by grade 7 they would discuss oral and anal intercourse and learn about the use of condoms.

McGuinty strongly defended the program this week following criticism from a coalition of pro-family groups, even to the point of insisting Wednesday that it was mandatory for the province's publicly-funded Catholic schools.

The Catholic bishops of Ontario and at least one Catholic school board reacted strongly to that assertion. Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa called for “a firestorm of response” from Catholic parents, and the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario denied that Catholic schools would teach elements that violated Catholic teaching. Further, Jan Bentham of the Ottawa Catholic school board said the Premier “seems to be misinformed,” and that her school board would not implement the curriculum.

Jane Almeida, a spokesperson for McGuinty, told LifeSiteNews (LSN) that the Premier has decided to hold more consultations with parent groups, and that there is no timeline yet on when a new curriculum would be implemented. “He has said that he understands that parents of all faiths have expressed concerns over this, and that maybe they didn't have sufficient time to look at the information provided,” she told LSN.

Asked if Catholic stakeholders would be included in the renewed consultations, Almeida said, “I'm sure that they would be involved in those discussions.”

McGuinty still defended the need to revise the existing program, however. "I think we all prefer that if they're going to access that information, we take the opportunity to present it in a thoughtful, responsible way -- and in an age-appropriate way in our classrooms," he said, reports CTV.

The final result, said the Premier, "remains the subject of some debate and some concern, and we're going to take the time to get that right.”

Contact Information:

Dalton McGuinty, Premier
Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Fax: (416) 325-3745
E-mail: Use this form.

Hon. Leona Dombrowsky, Minister of Education
Mowat Block, 22nd Flr, 900 Bay St
Toronto, ON M7A 1L2
Tel: 1-800-387-5514 (TTY 1-800-263-2892)
Fax: 416-325-6348
Email: ldombrowsky.mpp@liberal.ola.org

Ontario: Catholic Schools Will Not Implement Government-Mandated Sex-Ed Curriculum

In this post-Christian age, Christians are increasingly called to be counter-cultural. We salute our brothers and sisters in Ontario for their courage and integrity.

From Catholic World News

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa and an Ottawa Catholic school official said that they will not implement portions of Ontario’s mandatory sex education curriculum. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said on April 21 that the curriculum was mandatory for “all students in publicly funded schools, including Catholic schools,” and Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky said, “This is the Ontario curriculum, and it's the curriculum for all schools and all students.”

“Mr. McGuinty seems to be misinformed here,” said Jan Bentham of the Ottawa Catholic School Board. The education ministry, she said, was “very aware there would be some content we would not be delivering in Catholic schools.”

Urging parents to protest, Archbishop Pendergrast said, “I believe one of the most important things for children in learning about family life and sexuality issues is to have it in the context of a warm family that explains things to them and helps them to deal with that. I think parents are the first teachers of faith and moral issues to children.”

The curriculum teaches that homosexuality and transgenderism are normal and that masturbation is “one way of learning about your body.” Seventh grade teachers are prompted to say:

Engaging in sexual activities like oral sex, vaginal intercourse, and anal intercourse means that you can be infected with an STI. If you do not have sex, you do not need to worry about getting an STI. (By the way, statistics show that young people who delay first intercourse are more likely to use protection when they choose to be sexually active.) If a person is thinking of having sex, what can they do to protect themselves?

Students are to be coached to respond:

They should go to a health clinic or see a nurse or doctor who can provide important information about protection. People who think they will be having sex sometime soon should keep a condom with them so they will have it when they need it. They should also talk with their partner about using a condom before they have sex, so both partners will know a condom will be used. If a partner says they do not want to use a condom, a person should say, ‘I will not have sex without a condom.’ If you do have sex, it is important that you use a condom every time, because condoms help to protect you against STIs, including HIV, and pregnancy.

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

* Catholic leaders criticize new sex-ed curriculum (Ottawa Citizen)

* Mandatory Curriculum for Ontario Schools Promotes Homosexuality, Masturbation (LifeSiteNews.com)

* The Ontario Curriculum: Health and Physical Education