(LifeSiteNews) — The province of Ontario has introduced new policy requiring parents be notified before guest speakers are invited into schools to address students.
“As of the start of the 2024–2025 school year, your school will tell you about events and activities with guest speakers or performances at least 14 calendar days before the activity,” a new directive from the Ontario Education Ministry states.
Under the new directive, parents must be told the time and date of the event, the topic, the talk’s connection to their child’s education, the name of the presenter, the organization which they represent, and details of any handout materials which are given to the students. Parents can also choose for their children to opt out of such presentations if they do not approve of the subject matter.
The directive is part of Ontario’s “Policy/Program Memorandum 170.” The June 6 document says it aims to improve communication between parents and schools as well as to provide greater transparency and accountability within Ontario’s education system.
While not listed as a reason for the new change, the forthcoming policy comes after multiple instances in other provinces of inappropriate, pro-LGBT content presented at schools by third parties.
In May, the province of New Brunswick sounded the alarm after parents discovered their children had been taught about immoral sex acts by a “sex-ed” group that was invited to the school, leading to the premier banning the organization from the education system.
A similar event occurred in 2023 in the province of Saskatchewan, when a Planned Parenthood presenter distributed graphic, degenerate material to high school students. Like New Brunswick, Saskatchewan swiftly banned Planned Parenthood.
Despite Ontario’s decision to provide greater transparency, many of the province’s school boards have decidedly anti-family policies in place, as was evidence by an April report about Ontario parents who were not informed by teachers or staff about their children’s “gender identity” challenges.
In fact, many Ontario school boards have policies requiring teachers and staff withhold students’ private information from parents.
For example, the province’s largest board, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), has a policy which states that a student’s permission must be acquired before parents can be informed of their child’s decision to identify as “transgender.”
“A school should never disclose a student’s gender nonconformity or transgender status to the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s)/caregiver(s) without the student’s explicit prior consent,” the TDSB states in its guidelines.
Similar policies are in place at school boards across Ontario, including the York Region District School Board, Thames Valley District School Board, and the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.
As LifeSiteNews previously reported, the Kingston-area Limestone District School Board even told staff that they could be disciplined for supporting parental rights, using terms like “boys and girls,” and holding “right wing” views.
While Ontario schools work to withhold information from parents, both Alberta and Saskatchewan have introduced legislation to ensure parents are informed of their children’s decisions in school.
“Saskatchewan and Alberta agree that the key figures in children’s lives are their parents, and our provinces are both committed to supporting families and children so that they can work through unique needs together,” the provinces wrote in a joint letter in defense of parental rights.
A Saskatchewan teacher wishing to remain anonymous previously told LifeSiteNews that she feels guilty about keeping secrets from parents and supports the decision to keep parents informed.
“I fear that we are not supporting students or parents when we keep secrets,” she explained. “We have many students using alternate names, which sometimes changes frequently during the year, and then are asked by parents if we were aware of the changes after the fact. I feel responsible for keeping the secret and I don’t think it’s fair. I think schools are already taking on too many ‘parent roles’ and it’s important that parents play the ‘parent role’ not teachers!”