Sask. govt. discourages use of federally funded Canadian Anti-Hate Network toolkit in classrooms

The Government of Saskatchewan is discouraging teachers from using an anti-hate toolkit developed by the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.

The toolkit is a resource to identify and address hate in schools, according to the network, which monitors and reports on groups or individuals promoting hate toward "identifiable groups" outlined in Canadian law, according to its website. 

All the content is Canadian, and it makes reference to Saskatchewan three times. But the province says it doesn't meet their criteria.

"The toolkit does not meet criteria such as being high quality, free from bias as reasonably possible, and having appropriate and significant Saskatchewan context," a spokesperson for Saskatchewan's Ministry of Education said in a statement on Oct. 13.

The federal government says on its website that the toolkit will provide "a comprehensive anti-racism education program to help equip educators, parents and communities better identify, confront and prevent hate in schools across Canada."

The project is funded through the Government of Canada's Anti-Racism Action Program, which aims to address barriers to employment, justice and social participation among Indigenous Peoples, racialized communities and religious minorities, as well as address online hate and promote digital literacy.

The toolkit, titled Confronting Hate in Canadian Schools, launched in June and received $268,400 in federal funding for development. But the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education informed the education sector on Sept. 20 that the Canadian anti-hate toolkit is not recommended. 

The ministry says that instead of using the toolkit, a selection of resources can be done by schools and school systems using the Learning Resource Selection Guidelines 2022 and lists of resources found on the curriculum website.

Evan Balgord, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, says he's disappointed the province is discouraging the education sector from using the toolkit. 

"B.C. says it's already putting it on a recommended list, before we even reached out to them. We have some meetings lined up with other provinces. So everywhere else, the response has been neutral to positive. So Saskatchewan has been an outlier," Balgord said. 

Balgord says the toolkit is not necessarily meant as an in-class resource, but as a professional development resource, primarily for parents and teachers. It is not curriculum, Balgord said. 

"It's to prevent kids having their heads so full of hate, being groomed and radicalized and being propagandized by, you know, manifestos and stuff and going out and carrying out some kind of like mass attack," Balgord said. 

He says the toolkit also addresses less extreme situations. He denies that it is biased, like the province suggests. He says hate groups often target children for recruitment. 

"It's not partisan and it's not meant to be seen as partisan. It does have to talk about politics a bit because white supremacist groups, all the time, they're talking about how to influence or infiltrate mainstream politics to achieve their ends," he said.