A Quebec school district is apologizing amid outrage over elementary school teachers opting to replace Mother’s Day and Father’s Day with a more inclusive “Parents’ Day.”
The Centre de services scolaire de la Capitale’s (CSS) response differs from school boards in the rest of Canada – many of whom have embraced woke ideology.
The controversy began after Radio X host Dominic Maurais shared a screenshot of an email sent to parents of grade 2 students at the École de la Chanterelle in Quebec City, in which teachers explain that “considering the heterogeneity of our students’ families this year, we have decided not to celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.”
“However, we still want to recognize you (the parents) before the end of the year. To do so, we will celebrate Parents’ Day,” the teachers added.
The teachers’ move to cancel Mother’s Day and Father’s Day led to outrage on social media – with many Quebecers calling the move woke and nonsensical.
The school district then issued a statement, where it provided an explanation and an apology regarding the situation.
“Considering that some of the students in their classes do not have a mother or father or are in foster care, the teachers decided instead to celebrate Parents’ Day this spring by asking children to make a craft for them,” wrote the district.
“It is clear to the CSS that this initiative was based on a benevolent intention on the part of the teachers towards the students in their class” it added. “But clearly, their communication was clumsy and may have been misunderstood and misinterpreted, and we are sorry for that.”
The CSS also said the school is committed to improving its communications practices.
The district’s statement was shared by the province’s education minister Bernard Drainville, who said erasing mothers or fathers from schools has, and will always be, out of the question.
Conservative Party of Quebec leader Eric Duhaime also commented on the matter, saying “wokism is embodied everywhere in our academic institutions.”
“Are we going to cancel Christmas because some children are Muslim? Are we going to cancel Labor Day because there are unemployed people? The celebration of Easter because of diabetics? Are we going to cancel Valentine’s Day because some people are single? I hope not.”
Duhaime also criticized Drainville for not going far enough with his response, and also called on him to also comment on news that another Quebec school intends to cancel Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
Schools in the rest of Canada are also opting to cancel Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, including the Dr. F.W.L. Hamilton School in Manitoba, which has decided to “transition to a more inclusive practice.”
Meanwhile, a Toronto-area school has decided to take down a sign featuring an appreciative message for moms ahead of Mother’s Day after one parent complained in a Facebook group that it was “exclusionary.”
With files from True North’s Andrew Lawton and Cosmin Dzsurdzsa.
