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When the BC government refused education for Japanese Canadian children

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Mohawk Indian Residential School opens in Brantford, Ontario.
Residential School Timeline

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NCTR - National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation

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1831 Mohawk Indian Residential School opens in Brantford, Ontario. Year 1876 1876 The Indian Act is enacted giving Government the exclusive right to create legislation regarding Indians and Indian lands. This Act identifies who is an Indian and establishes related legal rights. 1883 Sir John A. Macd…

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Teachers in SK Required to get Parental Permission in order for Transgender and Nonbinary Students Under 16 to Use Different Names or Pronouns at School.

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Justice Minister Arif Virani said as a father of two, he understands the desire for parents to be involved in the big decisions their children make.

"What I don't appreciate is having the insertion of a blunt instrument like the notwithstanding clause into that equation," he said Thursday in a brief interview while at the Liberal caucus retreat in London, Ont.

"I don't think that is appropriate."

After a court challenge was launched against the new rule, the Saskatchewan Party government announced a plan to enshrine it in legislation to be introduced this fall.

Moe confirmed on Wednesday that he is considering using the notwithstanding clause - the provision in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that allows federal, provincial and territorial governments to pass laws that override certain Charter rights for up to five years - to do so.

Moe said the notwithstanding clause is "but one of the tools" his government could use to keep the policy in place.

"But you can have the assurance that the government will utilize any and all tools available, up to and including the notwithstanding clause, should it be necessary to ensure this policy is in place for the foreseeable future in Saskatchewan," Moe said.

Virani said he joins others in the Liberal government in being concerned about premiers invoking the clause pre-emptively, as was done in recent years by premiers in Quebec and Ontario, effectively cutting off any Charter challenges.

"We just have a policy that hasn't even been codified into law," he said of Saskatchewan's case.

"Let's let those processes run their course."

The UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Diversity at the University of Regina, which offers services to -diverse individuals around the provincial capital, is the group challenging Saskatchewan's policy in court.

Egale Canada, a national organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, is co-counsel in the case. A judge recently granted the government's request for more time to prepare to argue the constitutionality of the policy but said an injunction hearing will proceed next week as scheduled.

Bennett Jensen, the legal director at Egale, has said he hopes no province invokes the notwithstanding clause for such a policy.

"That would require a government saying that they are using the notwithstanding clause in order to intentionally, knowingly violate the Charter rights of children, which strikes me as wholly unconscionable for a government to do," Jensen said in a recent interview, before Moe confirmed the notwithstanding clause is being considered.

Jensen said Egale Canada may seek intervener status in the case against the similar policy brought in by New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is spearheading that legal challenge.

Jensen argues the Saskatchewan government is violating the Charter rights to equality as well as the "right to life, liberty and security of the person."

He said the main reason his organization got involved is due to the degree of harm a young student could face if they were "outed" to their parents, "no matter the consequences."

"The notwithstanding clause is present for a reason - so that duly elected governments can represent their constituents when necessary," he said.

Manitoba Progressive Conservative Leader Heather Stefanson has promised that if re-elected, her government would enhance "parental rights" when it comes to the curriculum and presentations by outside groups at schools.

Ontario has stopped short of introducing any policy changes but Premier Doug Ford told a crowd last week that school boards and teachers should not be "indoctrinating" students, language that has been used by anti-LGBTQ+ groups.

University of New Brunswick law professor Kerri Froc said discrimination against trans people is well-documented. She believes that dealing with these cases will have to decide whether limiting someone's equality rights is justified by the intent behind the policies.

"The court likes to see some safeguards built in, a carefully tailored policy that is cognizant of the various rights that are at issue and make some allowances," she said.

She said there has been a "sea change" in the country, with provincial leaders using the notwithstanding clause more frequently, even though it was designed to be a measure of last resort.

"There seems to be a real - by populist governments - a real kind of hostility to the Charter in terms of setting up as the bad guys that are appointed, not elected."

The last time Saskatchewan invoked the notwithstanding clause was in 2017 in response to a court ruling that said it was unconstitutional for the province to keep paying for non-Catholic students to attend Catholic schools.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2023.

- With files from Dylan Robertson in London, Ont.

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Keep notwithstanding clause out of school pronoun policies: Canada's justice minister

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A "blunt instrument" like the notwithstanding clause has no place in the debate over what parents are entitled to know from schools about their child's gender identity, Canada's justice minister said Thursday.

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Protests Occur in Alberta Over Questionable Changes to a New K-6 Curriculum

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Ontario Government Releases New Sex-ed Curriculum - With Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity as Mandatory Topics

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TORONTO - Ontario's new sex education curriculum retains many elements of a previous Liberal government document that sparked controversy and that the Progressive Conservatives had slammed as ideological.

When in Opposition the Tories largely stayed away from naming any specific concepts in the curriculum that they had an issue with, but a protest movement led by social conservatives singled out gender identity, masturbation and references to anal intercourse as problematic.

In the new elementary curriculum, released Wednesday, sexual orientation will be a mandatory topic taught in Grade 5, earlier than in the Liberals' 2015 curriculum, which had it in Grade 6. Gender identity will be a mandatory topic in Grade 8 - it was previously mandatory in Grade 6.

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Both topics were previously mentioned in the curriculum document for Grade 3, though they were not mandatory lessons.

Students had to describe how visible and invisible differences make each person unique, and examples given for invisible differences were "learning abilities, skills and talents, personal or cultural values and beliefs, gender identity, sexual orientation, family background, personal preferences, allergies and sensitivities."

Those references to gender identity and sexual orientation have now been removed, and mental illness has been added.
WATCH: Ontario Children's Advocacy Coalition talks Ontario government's new sex-ed curriculum
Masturbation remains an optional teacher prompt in Grade 6, and anal sex continues to be first mentioned in Grade 7, in terms of delaying sexual activity until people are older.

Former Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne, who is gay, has said she had no doubt that homophobia motivated some of the protesters.

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Premier Doug Ford and other Tories had said the Liberal curriculum was ideological and had promised during last year's election to repeal it and engage in a wider consultation with parents.

One of the most vocal opponents to the curriculum, Tanya Granic Allen, had vaulted the issue back into the spotlight when she ran for the Progressive Conservative leadership months prior to the election.

Granic Allen tweeted Wednesday that Ford's new curriculum is a betrayal.

"The radical Wynne sex-ed is still there - ALL OF IT. And gender identity is mentioned 40 times," she wrote. "Ford LIED to the parents."

The new curriculum also has a new focus on mental health, adds teaching on concussions and the risks of vaping, and expands on lessons on consent and cyberbullying.

There will also be an option for parents to have their children opt out of certain teaching blocks, which standardizes a process that was already in place across most of the province.

WATCH: New Ontario sex ed curriculum enables parents to have a say, says Lecce

Five changes to Ontario's sex-ed curriculum
SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY
Sexual orientation will be a mandatory topic taught in Grade 5, earlier than in the Liberals' 2015 curriculum, which had it in Grade 6. Students will have to "identify intersecting factors that affect the development of a person's self-concept, including their sexual orientation." Gender identity will be a mandatory topic in Grade 8 - it was previously mandatory in Grade 6. Students will have to "demonstrate an understanding of gender identity (e.g., male, female, Two-Spirit, transgender), gender expression, and sexual orientation (e.g., heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual), and identify factors that can help individuals of all identities and orientations develop a positive self-concept."

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CONSENT
The previous curriculum had consent as a mandatory topic in Grade 7, requiring students to explain the concept and how consent is communicated. It was also included as an optional teacher prompt in Grade 6, with discussions on how only a clear "yes" is a signal of consent. Students in Grade 1 must now demonstrate an understanding of the importance of consent, in the context of caring behaviours. Students in Grade 2 must explain the importance of consent and demonstrate the ability to stand up for themselves and others, such as reporting improper touching. Lessons on consent are also included in several other grades, and the word shows up nearly three times more often in this curriculum than the old one.
CYBERBULLYING AND ONLINE SAFETY
Cyberbullying was previously a mandatory topic in Grade 7, but that now moves to Grade 4. Students will be expected to "describe various types of bullying, abuse, and other non-consensual behaviour," including cyberbullying, and identify the impacts they can have and appropriate ways of responding. As early as Grade 1, students will be asked to demonstrate an understanding of how to stay safe at home, in the community, when online and outdoors. Various other lessons on online risks are included, such as talking about online personal safety in Grade 2 and cyberbullying, including homophobic remarks, in Grade 5.
CANNABIS AND VAPING
Recreational cannabis has been legalized for adults since the previous curriculum was published, and the new version contains many more references to it. The previous curriculum had lessons on the effects of cannabis "and other illicit drugs" in Grade 6. Now in Grade 5, students will have to identify factors that affect a person's decision to drink alcohol or use cannabis. The effects of cannabis will still be discussed in Grade 6, as well as other drugs, including a mention of opioids, which were not mentioned in the previous curriculum. The effects of vaping are mentioned now, starting in Grade 4. It was not previously mentioned in the curriculum.

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CONCU SSIONS

Since the introduction of the 2015 curriculum, the Ontario legislature has passed a concussion safety law, named after Rowan Stringer, a teen who died from second impact syndrome after multiple concussions as a rugby player. The curriculum now includes 80 mentions of the word concussion, and lessons on concussion safety start in Grade 1. Those students must "demonstrate behaviours and apply procedures that maximize safety and lessen the risk of injury, including the risk of concussion, for themselves and others during physical activity." In the previous curriculum, concussions were mentioned as an example in a Grade 8 requirement that students "identify situations that could lead to injury or death."

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Ontario government releases new sex-ed curriculum, similar to scrapped version | Globalnews.ca

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Ontario's new sex education curriculum retains many elements of a previous Liberal government document that sparked controversy and that the Progressive Conservatives had slammed as ideological.

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Canada's Last Residential School in SK Closed

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BC's Last Residential School, Christie Indian Residential School, Closed

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In 1900, the Christie Indian Residential School was established on Meares Island, a small island near Tofino, towering with ancient conifers. After more than eight decades and at least 23 student deaths, Christie closed in 1983: the last functioning residential school in British Columbia. It would take another 13 years before Canada's last residential school - Gordon's Indian Residential School in Punnichy, Saskatchewan - finally shuttered.

But for survivors and their descendants, the pain endured at Christie and other residential schools still lingers.

Long after Christie closed, a former student named Brian Lucas remembered the clergy beating him with sticks just for smiling at his friend. He remembered the nuns pulling his hair because they said he wouldn't listen. He remembered blacking out after a towel was wrung around his neck.

"It did something to my brain," Lucas told The Tyee years later. "That's why I'm always this way."

Canada first began funding residential schools in the 1880s. The goal was to erase Indigenous identity, culture and tradition by separating Indigenous children from their families and communities. Duncan Campbell Scott, a poet who oversaw the residential school system at its most inhumane, put it more bluntly: the schools existed "[t]o get rid of the Indian problem."

An estimated 150,000 First Nation, Métis and Inuit children passed through the halls of 139 federally-funded residential schools across the country. At least 18 operated in B.C. - in addition to others not funded with taxpayer money. Though some former students have shared good memories, physical, sexual and emotional abuse ran rampant across the system. Wilful neglect, underfunding, overcrowding, and child labour were common. In some cases, students unknowingly had experiments practiced on them, Approximately 4,100 children died attending residential schools across Canada, though experts believe that number could be 6,000 or more.

By the time the last school closed in 1996, a national moral reckoning had begun. Ten years before, the United Church had apologized to Indigenous people across Canada for participating in the system, which is now widely condemned as cultural genocide. "We tried to make you be like us," the church's statement read. "And in so doing, we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you were." The Anglican and Presbyterian Churches of Canada issued similar apologies a few years later. (To this day, the Catholic Church, which ran most of the schools, has refused to apologize for its role.) Meanwhile, more and more allegations of sexual and physical abuse began surfacing.

Beginning in the late 1990s, a growing number of residential school survivors joined what would become Canada's largest-ever class-action lawsuit. A settlement with the federal government was finalized in 2007, providing $1.9-billion to as many as 80,000 former students. But financial reparations were only one element of the agreement. Survivors and their families wanted the Canadian public to understand the full extent of what happened at residential schools. In 2008, Canada established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). And for six years, the TRC travelled across the country, meeting with thousands of former students, as well as past school employees. The commission also pored over decades of church and government archives, bringing to light the names of thousands of children who died in their care. In 2015, the commission released its final report with 94 "calls to action" to advance reconciliation and improve the quality of life of Indigenous people living in Canada.

This first stage of reconciliation was at times contentious. After the federal government refused to hand over all documents related to residential schools, the commission took Ottawa to court, eventually winning access. Initially, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government avoided formally apologizing for Canada's role in residential schools. But in June 2008, Harper did apologize on the country's behalf: "The government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the Aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly. We are sorry." That same day, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell echoed the prime minister's statements. "Here in B.C. this is a watershed moment that builds on a New Relationship our province has been forging with First Nations," Campbell said in a press release, "a relationship founded on mutual respect, recognition and reconciliation."

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B.C.'s Last Residential School - British Columbia - An Untold History

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One of country's darkest chapters comes to a close, but trauma remains

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Communities Push for Advancements in Special Education

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T he BC School Act and numerous other provincial acts similarly call for measures to ensure that special needs students within mainstream classrooms have all the support they need to thrive. The body of evidence that started forming in the 70s has also continued to build throughout the 2000s in support of inclusion, making the empirical foundation stronger now than ever before.

Y et, while evidence, ethos, and many formalized commitments weigh on the side of inclusion, it remains elusive as a widespread practice in classrooms. Cases of exclusion have been reported in all 60 BC school districts, studies show that inclusive education is not a system-wide reality across the province, and the progress from integration to inclusion cannot yet be regarded as complete.

What will it take for full inclusion? Click here to learn more about the barriers and how the situation can be changed!

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Inclusive Education Main Page

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History of Inclusive Education in Canada | BC Disability

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​ ​ T he BC School Act and numerous other provincial acts similarly call for measures to ensure that special needs students within mainstream classrooms have all the support they need to thrive. The body of evidence that started forming in the 70s has also continued to build throughout the 2000s in support of inclusion, making the empirical foundation stronger now than ever before.