The Canadian Parvasi- Issue 54

The International News Weekly Canada
05
July 20, 2018 | Toronto
People in all 124 Ontario ridings will be
consulted on sex ed, says Doug Ford
Ontario: Be consulted before
a new sex-education curriculum
is drafted, Premier
Doug Ford said Tuesday in
an attempt to quell concerns
over his government's controversial
decision to scrap
the updated lesson plan.
The newly elected Progressive
Conservatives were
accused of flip-flopping on
the issue Monday after the
education minister said in
the legislature that concepts
like gender identity, consent
and cyber safety would still
be taught in the fall only to
backtrack on her comments
hours later.
Ford had pledged to
repeal and replace the curriculum,
which the Liberals
updated in 2015, and his government
said last week that
when students return to class
this fall they will be taught a
version of the curriculum
introduced in 1998, sparking
anger from some teachers
and parents who say that
document is outdated.
"We're going to hit 124
ridings," he said, calling it
"the largest consultation ever
in Ontario's history when it
comes to education."
Ford also attempted to allay
concerns from critics that
reverting back to the old curriculum
means important issues
like cyber safety, gender
identity and consent wont'
be taught, putting children
at risk. "I think everyone is
going to be pleasantly surprised,"
he said. "I really do. I
don't think this is the end of
the world. I think it's actually
healthy. When it comes to
teaching our kids, we have to
consult with the parents."
Ford said that during
the spring election parents
across Ontario told him they
wanted more input into the
curriculum's design.
"We want to go and consult
with the parents and get
their input," he said. "Then
we'll move forward with
changing the curriculum."
Ford's opposition to the
new sex-ed curriculum during
the Progressive Conservative
leadership race
earlier this year won him
the support of social conservatives
within the party
base, helping him to victory
over longtime Tory legislator
and current health minister
Christine Elliott.
NDP legislator Peter
Tabuns said the reason the
Ford government is replacing
the curriculum is to
please social conservatives.
"Look at who (Premier
Ford's) backers are," he said.
"We're talking about some
very deeply conservative,
social conservative thinkers
who think we should be back
in the 19th century or earlier."
Going backward, Tabuns
said, puts children at risk.
Meanwhile, a group of
teachers have started an
online pledge form, urging
fellow educators to sign up
and promise to continue to
teach the updated version of
the curriculum in their classrooms
this fall.
Kate Curtis, speaking for
the group who created the
pledge, said the teachers are
acting out of a sense of moral
and ethical duty to their students.
"We as teachers know
that we have a professional
and ethical obligation to
make sure that our students
are safe, that they feel included
both in our classrooms
and also that they're reflected
in the curriculum."
Curtis said the 1998 curriculum
does not reflect the
reality of a teenager's life in
2018 and does not accurately
reference cyber safety, consent
or gender identity.
"The world has changed
immensely in the last 20
years," she said. "Students
are reflecting that change at
school ... we really have to
reflect that." Two top officials
at Canada's largest school
board said Tuesday that
they have not received any
direction from the Ontario
government regarding the
sex-ed curriculum that will
be taught this fall.
The U.S. is accusing
Canada of threatening
its national security
Tariffs on steel and aluminum threaten to
cripple the Canadian economy. Many Canadians,
especially those associated with the new recreational
marijuana industry, are experiencing
tough interrogations at the U.S-Canada border.
Earlier this month, news broke
that the American border patrol
is executing raids into soveriegn
Canadian waters off the coast of
New Brunswick.
This escalation in relations,
of course, will inevitably affect
Canada more than the United
States. The U.S. is both Canada's largest export and
import market, and around 90% of the Canadian
population lives within two hundred kilometres of
the border.
So it is especially concerning that U.S. officials
now view Canada as a threat.
In a formal complaint filed at the World Trade
Organization (WTO) this week, the U.S. calls Canadian
retaliatory tariffs "completely without
justification under international rules," despite
the Trump administration's own levies against
Canadian goods, which the complaint describes as
"wholly justified."
The letter accuses Canada of undermining
American "national security interests." U.S. representatives
at the WTO hope the international agency
will back the Trump administration agenda.
This new complaint comes just days after the
NATO summit, where Trump berated American
allies for what he perceives as their lack of military
and economic support. Days later, Trump met with
Russian president Vladimir Putin, an act many in
the United States have labelled as treasonous.
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Indo-Asian News Service
Toronto: Stating that India
had issued a demarche to Britain,
External Affairs Ministry
spokesperson Raveesh Kumar
said: "We have seen reports
and I would like to confirm
that we have taken this matter
up with the UK government.
"We expect that the UK
government will not allow any
such group, whose intention
is to spread hatred and impact
our bilateral relations, to use
its country."
Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a
human rights advocacy group
with radical leaning, has announced
that it will hold what
it calls a "London Declaration"
on an independence referendum
for the Indian state of
Punjab in London on August
12.Kumar said the majority of
the Sikh community,
whether they be in Britain
or living in other
countries, have very good relations
with India.
"They also have good relations
with the countries in
which they are living," he said.
"As far as such small
groups are concerned, I believe
these are fringe elements
and their job is to spread hatred
and communal disharmony."