Queen's Park, July 17, 2018 - "My question is to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.
Earlier this week, the Premier’s close friend and avid supporter Charles McVety made his opinion about the repeal of the sexual health curriculum crystal clear. He said: “The fruit of the poisonous tree has been cut down.” McVety is a social conservative who lobbied hard for the modernized curriculum to be pulled out of schools, and this government was more than happy to make a deal with him.
Does the minister think it is appropriate to allow social conservative activists like Charles McVety to drive Ontario’s health and physical education program from the backroom?
Speaker, yesterday this government confirmed that the new sexual health curriculum would be rolled back, while claiming that there is ample room to discuss consent, cyber safety and gender identity, even though the old curriculum is completely silent on these critical issues. Instead of catering to pressure from inflammatory far-right activists like Charles McVety, this government should be ensuring that young people have the accurate, up-to-date sexual health information and resources they need to protect themselves.
Will this minister confirm that her government rejects Charles McVety’s comments about the current up-to-date curriculum, and commit to having an inclusive, modern sexual health curriculum in place for this September?"