Education Minister Dustin Duncan announced new sexual education and parental rights policies in schools on Tuesday, with many organizations speaking out against the new policies..READ MORE Sask announces new sex ed rules, bans third parties from classroom."Our government has heard the concerns raised by Saskatchewan parents about needing to be notified and included in their children's education in these important areas," said Duncan.."We also determined that while all of Saskatchewan's school divisions had policies dealing with these matters, those policies varied from one division to another, so it was important to standardize these policies and ensure consistency of parental inclusion, no matter where your child goes to school."."Parent/guardian involvement is critical in every student's education," said Duncan. ."Schools will continue to ensure safe learning environments where all students feel included, protected and respected.”.Premier Scott Moe tweeted, "Parents must be included in all important decisions involving their children.”.The controversy around sex education and parental rights in schools began when a student took home a deck of sex cards from a Planned Parenthood presentation at Lumsden High School..“Certainly, the direction is that teachers are to provide the curriculum, to implement the curriculum, to teach the course,” said Duncan..“The ministry has met with Planned Parenthood twice. Planned Parenthood themselves have expressed an interest in perhaps moving away from classroom delivery of material.”.The policy changes happened after the new Saskatchewan United Party (SUP) finished second in a byelection and received over 1100 votes in the Lumsden-Morse riding earlier this month..SUP had several events and campaigned on the sex cards controversy as a major campaign issue around parental rights..NDP leader Carla Beck called the new policies “a new low.”.However, Beck said that the NDP supports parents being involved in their children’s schools and better communication between parents and the schools..“We don't support outing kids and putting them at greater risk,” said Beck..“And let's be clear. What we saw from the minister today will put vulnerable kids at greater risk. And I am deeply frustrated, and quite frankly angry, that this is what the education minister in our province spent his summer doing.”.Beck said “yes” when asked by a reporter if the new policies were “transphobic.”.Beck indirectly referred to the SUP’s strong byelection performance in Lumsden-Morse saying that it is a “calculated policy to solve their own political problems” and "reckless cynical and divisive politics that we've seen from the government before.”.“(The Sask Party) looked at what happened in Lumsden, looked at what happened in that byelection with the SUP, and decided for their own political reasons that they were going to take the position essentially of the SUP raised in the recent by-election in Lumsden-Morse,” said Beck..“I think this is a reaction to a political problem that this Minister and this government has. It certainly isn't policy that is designed to improve our schools or make our classrooms more welcoming, better places for kids to learn.”.The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) released a statement criticizing the new sexual and gender rules..“Outing children as part of a political gamble is violent and despicable,” said Lori Johb, president of SFL..The ARC Foundation is one of the third-party organizations mentioned by Duncan and their website states that 62% of sexual minority students still “feel unsafe at school.”.The ARC Foundation website says it “creates and co-funds breakthrough collaboration models for reducing 2SLGBTQ+ discrimination in schools. ARC’s primary program is SOGI 1 2 3, which helps educators make schools inclusive and safe for students of all sexual orientations and gender identities through policies and procedures, guidance on creating inclusive environments and teaching resources.”.Harini Sivalingam, director of the Equality Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), made the following statement criticizing the new policies..“Today’s policy changes will make it more dangerous to be an 2SLGBTQIA+ student in Saskatchewan,” said Sivalingam..“The new policy violates the rights and dignity of 2SLGBTQIA+ young people and is not in the best interest of students.”.“We have seen all too often what happens when students are outed at home. Some unsupportive families have kicked their kids out of the house or resorted to physical violence,” said Sivalingam..“Shredding the rights of students is repulsive. Implementing policy that could result in increased harm to vulnerable youth is disgraceful. The CCLA will support and take the legal measures necessary to protect the rights of students in Saskatchewan."
