Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is being slammed for his decision to condemn New Brunswick requiring schools to inform parents that their children are transitioning genders and being accused of playing politics in light of his government’s position on other provincial matters like Quebec’s anti-religious freedom Bill 21.
The Prime Minister has opted to label parents concerned with gender ideology in schools as “far-right political actors … trying to outdo themselves with the types of cruelty and isolation they can inflict on these already vulnerable people.”
Trudeau isn’t the only Liberal to step into the debate.
Recently, Minister of Labour Seamus O’Regan blasted Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre for telling Trudeau to “butt out” of what is a matter of provincial jurisdiction.
In a rebuttal to Poilievre, O’Regan claimed that “not all parents are accepting” of their children.
However, a poll by SecondStreet.org shows that Canadians overwhelmingly side with New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs when it comes to requiring educators to inform parents on gender transitions and pronoun use at schools.
The Leger survey commissioned by the think tank found that 57% of Canadians agreed with informing parents while only 18% disagreed.
Higgs has even been willing to hang his political future on this issue by raising the possibility of an early election – and public opinion looks increasingly on his side.
“It’s very strange to suggest that because a couple parents may harm their children that schools should therefore keep all parents in the dark. Don’t forget, if schools suspect a parent is abusive, they are already required to report the matter to child welfare agencies,” said SecondStreet.org President Colin Craig in response to O’Regan.
“It’s incredibly cruel to children to keep their parents in the dark. How can parents help their kids through a difficult time if schools don’t tell them what’s going on? What a nasty little game to play on kids.”
According to Craig, Trudeau is picking and choosing what political battles to wage and in comparison to the Liberal government’s muddled response to Quebec’s Bill 21 which would ban religious symbols in public institutions, there’s a level of inconsistency.
“The disconnect between how we see Ottawa treat Quebec versus how it treats other provinces likely boils down to politics. I suspect the Prime Minister’s tone on this issue may change once he realizes most Canadians feel the same way as New Brunswick’s government. Go figure, parents want to know what their kids are up to in schools,” said Craig.
Religious freedom advocates have called on the federal government to intervene on Bill 21, but so far, Trudeau has dashed their hopes of any action from Ottawa.
Although Trudeau has said that he disagrees with the law, he has claimed that he doesn’t want to pick a fight with the province and that the matter should be left up to Quebeckers.
“I think that it’s important, in the first stages of the work that’s being done right now, to not give the excuse of a fight between Ottawa and Quebec,” said Trudeau.
While Poilievre has expressed opposition to the secularism law, he has also stopped short of pledging any heavy handed intervention on the matter if elected Prime Minister.
According to the non-partisan think tank Cardus’ Executive Vice President Ray Pennings, Trudeau’s comments on both Quebec’s Bill 21 and New Brunswick’s education changes ispolitical commentary that betrays a “shallow and narrow” understanding of both issues.
“The federal government hasn’t actually intervened in either issue,” said Pennings.
“Sadly, in both cases, the federal government has expressed a shallow and narrow understanding of religious freedom, which is a fundamental freedom. Without it, our other freedoms whither. At its heart, religious freedom is about the freedom to live a public faith. To force people to privatize their faith in order to advance secularism, or any other system of belief, undermines genuine pluralism.”
On the New Brunswick debate, Pennings pointed to Canada being a signatory to the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which includes a pledge that public schools “ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.”
“It is unclear whether this will become a ballot issue—and if it does, the results will be unpredictable. However, in a pluralistic society like ours, where different religions, anthropologies, moral, and cultural values co-exist, public discussions need to respectfully engage with difference,” said Pennings.
“Politics isn’t going to eliminate these differences, and those who try to use politics to impose their own arguments and marginalise their opponents set the agenda backwards for all sides. Being forced or silenced isn’t the same as being convinced.”
