N.S. schools stuck between polarized opinions on gender, sexuality
CBC
As public debate over sex education in schools has been escalating across the country, Nova Scotia teachers and administrators have been fielding more questions and complaints, and in some cases, struggling to respond.
Documents obtained by CBC News through access to information laws provide a glimpse into what the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and regional centres for education have recently heard from parents.
Some are worried LGBTQ youth are not safe at school and are calling for stronger policies to ensure the gender identity of students is respected.
Others are worried their children are being exposed to inappropriate material, in secret, and want conversations about gender and sexuality to be either restricted, or left out of classrooms entirely.
A French elementary school in Bedford offers an example of how schools are caught in the middle.
In April 2023, students at Ecole Beaubassin attended sex-ed workshops put on by a guest.
According to a letter sent to Beaubassin families by the director of the French school board, the Conseil scolaire acadian provincial (CSAP), the workshops covered the topics of DNA, biological sex, gender identity, non-cisgender terminology and gender expression.
"Sessions with students on diversity seem to have generated strong reactions from members of the community," the letter said.
The CSAP stopped offering the workshops and apologized to families for not advising them about the content ahead of time.
But it seems the school board could do no right. The apology generated a strong reaction of its own. One parent said in an email to the education minister that the CSAP was failing to maintain a "safe, positive and inclusive learning environment for LGBTQIA+ students."
Halting the program, the parent said, "deprives students of vital education and it signals to them that their dignity and well-being is not a priority."
The dispute at Beaubassin is not unique. A September 2023 email between staff with the education department refers to a "growing number of inquiries related to health education" and the need for a cohesive response.
More than a dozen of those inquiries were included in documents released to CBC dating back to the start of the 2022-2023 school year.
One parent in Fall River emailed the deputy minister of education to say they were shocked when their two daughters had come home from school one day saying they'd learned they could be a boy or a girl.
Amanda Nahwegahbow, 38, is being remembered by her family as a vibrant and resilient woman who could light up any room.
As Nova Scotia bucks a national trend of declining rent prices, the province’s housing minister said he's hopeful that work to stimulate more construction will lead to improvements.
When the New Brunswick Health Council released its report this week on avoidable deaths in the province, one area stood out.
Almost once a month for almost a year, Kathleen Toman has left her home in Balsam Lake, Ont., for Mont-Tremblant, Que. This weekend, she’ll make the 500-kilometre trip again, meeting her ex-husband, Chris Toman, there.
A charity in Chase, B.C., has secured funding that it hopes will improve child-care services in the community by training new childhood educators.
Ontario is seeking feedback on a potential amendment to the Coroners Act that may replace mandatory inquests into jail deaths with coroner-led annual reviews.
Paul Myllyniemi takes the bus to work in Thunder Bay, Ont., every day — except when it doesn’t show up.
Residents in the Greater Toronto Area are digging themselves out and going back to their regular weekday schedules a day after a major snowstorm.
Commuters hoping to escape the cold by travelling on Line 6 will need to think again, as train service is down Friday morning.
Halim Rahim has lived in Canada for almost four years, but says he’s never experienced a winter like this.
For Lindsay Gillan, walking her dog, Daisy, twice a day in Charlottetown’s Victoria Park is a treasured routine that benefits both her physical and mental health.
Whitehorse city council has postponed its decision on an overhaul of its zoning bylaws that would, among other things, introduce short-term rental regulations in the city.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he has reached a deal with China to allow tens of thousands of Chinese electric vehicles into the country in exchange for lower canola duties.