Earlier this
week the National Post ran an advertisement that has caused some controversy.
The ad, bought by the Institute for Canadian Values, argued against aspects of
the Ontario school curriculum that include instruction about certain aspects of
human sexuality.
Specifically, it objected to teaching young children — those
between junior kindergarten and Grade 3 — about
transsexual/transgender/intersexed/two-spirited issues. The ad in question was
attempting to make the case that the Ontario curriculum was teaching very young
children about issues that, at that age, should be the domain of parents. In
addition, it made the case that even when parents or teachers may object to the
material being taught, they did not have the right, in the case of parents, to
remove their children from the class, or in the case of teachers, to decline to
teach the material on the grounds that they objected to it. This steemed to
bring a healthy discussion on what is being taught children and the right to
respectfully disagree is a healthy consideration and one to be thankful that
such a public examination is being made.
What is quite unusual is that on
Saturday, the National Post Editorial Bord published an apology and said that:
" Where the ad exceeded the bounds of civil discourse was in its tone and manipulative
use of a picture of a young girl; in the suggestion that such teaching
“corrupts” children, with everything that such a charge implies; and in its
singling out of groups of people with whose sexuality the group disagrees. The
fact that we will not be publishing this ad again represents a recognition on
our part that publishing it in the first place was a mistake. The National
Post would like to apologize unreservedly to anyone who was offended by
it. We will be taking steps to ensure that in future our procedures for vetting
the content of advertising will be strictly adhered to. The Post will
also be donating the proceeds from the advertisement to an organization that
promotes the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people". (http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/09/30/an-apology-from-the-national-post/)
My Response to the Natinoal Post:
The decision of the National Post
editorial board this week in retracting and donating the proceeds of an
advertisement to their opponents, is disturbing on multiple levels. This ad
specifically addressed the Toronto District School Board’s policy of forbidding
parents to opt out of its pro-homosexual curriculum. A Toronto District School
Board resource guide notes that parents do not have the right to withdraw their
children from classes promoting homosexual ‘marriage’.The guide suggests
parents not even be advised of such matters. When asked by the media, Liberal
Premier Dalton McGuinty said he too opposed keeping parents in the dark about
such matters and supported allowing parents to opt their children out of
programs deemed offensive. However, since the controversial policy was brought
to light in June there is no evidence that the Liberal Ministry of Education
has asked the Toronto School Board to rescind it’s anti-parental rights policy.
Bringing a discussion on what is being taught children and the right to
respectfully disagree, is a healthy consideration and one to be thankful that
such a public examination is being made. On Saturday, you ran a full page ad by
B'Nai Brith. If you change your mind about one of their adds, will you donate
the money to Hezbollah? To take an advertisers money and then change your mind
and give it to its "competitors" is not a healthy business decision,
yet alone what it says about the promotion of dialogue.
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