A Conservative government in British Columbia would remove sexual orientation and gender identity teaching resources from the province’s schools, as well as any materials that could “instill guilt” based on ethnicity, nationality or religion, the party says.
In an initial news release Sunday, the Conservatives said they would replace the teaching resources, called SOGI123, with anti-bullying programs, and remove the guilt-inducing materials, which the party did not provide details on, to focus instead on “uplifting students and helping them thrive.” They would also ensure that parents are informed of any “significant ideations” expressed by their child.
But in a second news release hours later, the party replaced the language around guilt-inducing materials in favour of “ideological neutrality” of materials, and “significant ideations” with “suicidal ideations.”
The education plan, shared six days before the Oct. 19 election, was distributed through the two news releases and one backgrounder, each of which had slightly different language and promises. The Conservatives did not immediately respond to a Globe and Mail question about the discrepancies.
Still, the plan affirms comments that Conservative Leader John Rustad made in a May meeting with The Globe and Mail’s editorial board, saying that his government would strike a committee to review all school textbooks and literature to ensure they are “neutral.”
On Monday, reporters asked Mr. Rustad at an unrelated campaign stop about the plan to remove materials that induce guilt.
“It shouldn’t be biased, whether it is any particular ideology or environmentalism or politics,” he said about materials in the education system, whose goal he said “should be teaching kids how to think, and how to think critically.”
In Sunday’s list of education promises, the Conservatives also said they would restore letter grades for students in grades 4 through 9, and reinstate standardized provincial exams for grades 10 and 12; establish “funding equality” between public and independent schools; and phase out portables in favour of modular classrooms.
The party would also bring back the school liaison officer program and “empower teachers and school administrators to maintain discipline in classrooms and ensure disruptive behaviour is addressed.” The Greater Victoria School District terminated its school liaison officer program at the end of the 2022-23 school year after several years of waning operations, with opponents saying some marginalized students felt unsafe with police present. Some supporters have argued for its return, citing an uptick in youth gang activity.
Sunday’s second news release omitted the language about empowering staff to maintain discipline, saying instead the party would support teachers and administrators in maintaining a safe environment.
The BC Teachers’ Federation, which represents the province’s 41,000 public-school teachers, said the Conservative platform “shows a deep misunderstanding of public schools and what students in them need.” It said the plan would strip funding from public schools to subsidize private schools, eliminate a teaching resource that evidence has shown to reduce violence and discrimination, and build modular classrooms instead of investing in building schools at a pace that keeps up with population growth.
“Each promise represents a leap backward for B.C. families at a time when we need smart and strategic investment in students and schools – not cuts, privatization, and partisan political interference,” the union said Monday on X.
Reid Clark, president of the Chilliwack Teachers’ Association, said the Conservative proposals raise major concerns. SOGI123 was designed to support LGBTQ students and create safer and more inclusive schools, and replacing it with anti-bullying programs ignores the unique challenges they face, he wrote Sunday on X.
“Ending it isn’t about ‘ideology,’ it’s about erasing support for vulnerable students,” he said.
On the plan to remove guilt-inducing materials, Mr. Clark said it’s likely in reference to diversity education, and he stressed the importance of learning about systemic inequalities.
“Teaching about racism, historical injustices and the diverse experiences of Canadians is vital to creating an informed, empathetic and socially conscious society. Whitewashing history helps no one – it only deepens ignorance and division.”