Parents should be told if minors switch gender, say provincial governments

Education Ministers in four Canadian provincial governments are changing school policies, requiring parents to be informed when minor-age children change gender identity at school. 

Saskatchewan mandates parental consent for name and pronoun changes at school | True North | Elie Cantin-Nantel:

August 22, 2023 - "The Saskatchewan government is requiring children under the age of 16 to obtain parental consent before they change their name or pronouns at school. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is the third premier to stand up for parental rights in the face of rampant gender ideology in public schools. The two others who have taken a pro-parent position on the issue are New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs and Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson....

"'Parents must be included in all important decisions involving their children,' said Moe. 'Our government has heard the concerns raised by Saskatchewan parents about needing to be notified and included in their children’s education,' said Education Minister Dustin Duncan in a news release.... The Saskatchewan government is also mandating that schools disclose information about sex-ed teachings to parents and provide them with the option to opt-out.... 

"Speaking to True North [video], Don’t Delete Parents founder Faytene Grasseschi said it’s 'becoming very clear across Canada that parents are voicing common-sense concerns'.... 'What is happening in New Brunswick, Manitoba and now Saskatchewan is waking up the nation, and I expect it will have an impact in other provinces as well.' added Grasseschi. 'Parents are just now waking up to the fact that some schools have been keeping things from them, and they frankly aren’t ok with it.'

"Not everyone in Saskatchewan is, however, on board with the government’s new parental rights policies. Saskatchewan NDP leader Carla Beck accused Moe and Duncan of 'outing vulnerable kids' while NDP MLA Aleana Young accused them of being 'f***king cowards.'"

Read more: https://tnc.news/2023/08/22/sask-parental-consent-school/

New Brunswick’s fight for parental rights (feat. Faytene Grasseschi) | True North | July 2, 3023:

Canadian politicians stampeding away from policy of concealing gender transitions from parents | National Post | Tristin Hopper:

August 30, 2023 - "Canadian politicians are now stampeding away from a policy of public schools unquestionably affirming the self-described gender identity of children without informing their parents.... [T]he standing policy is that staff must immediately affirm the self-described gender identity of students ... and also withhold this information from parents upon request. 'Do not talk to anyone about (a student’s) identity, including parents/caregivers, to whom they have not already disclosed their gender identity,' reads the official guidelines on 'gender identity in schools' published by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

• "In a surprise move last June, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs amended Policy 713 — a document governing gender expression in public schools — to require parental consent before a student could socially transition.... 
• Last week, Saskatchewan also announced that parental consent would henceforth be required for a student under 16 to assume new pronouns or a new name (students over 16 can do it without parental consent).... 
• Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson announced plans earlier this month to amend the province’s Public Schools Act to broaden 'parental rights' surrounding gender identity. 'Parents want to know what’s going on in the day-to-day lives of their children,” Stefanson told reporters on Aug. 17....
•  And just on Monday, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce told a news conference that 'parents must be fully involved' in circumstances when a child decides to go by different pronouns at school.

"According to polls, Canadians are wildly in favour of this new tack. Even before Higgs went public with changes to Policy 713, a May Leger poll found that 57 per cent of Canadians favoured some form of parental notification in cases where a student was changing their gender identity. Only 18 per cent supported the status quo.... The results of an Angus Reid Institute poll released Monday were even more decisive. Of respondents, 78 per cent said that schools should inform parents if a student changes their pronouns, and 43 per cent said it shouldn’t be done without explicit parental consent. Only 14 per cent agreed with the statement 'parents should neither be informed nor have a say — it’s up to the child.'

"Progressive politicians and LGBT rights groups have been quick to call the proposed changes transphobic or even hateful. In a column for CTV, former NDP leader Thomas Mulcair said the likes of Higgs and Moe were 'promoting discrimination and intolerance' in a cynical bid for votes. Former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne accused Lecce of using parental rights to 'cover their trans and homophobia.'"

Read more: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/canadian-politicians-transitions-policy