Juno News - January 29, 2024


Danielle Smith triggers the left over parental rights policy


Episode Stats

Length

9 minutes

Words per Minute

171.0939

Word Count

1,709

Sentence Count

87


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 On Saturday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced on a radio interview that her government
00:00:11.000 will finally be enshrining the rights of parents in Alberta schools with new legislation. Take a
00:00:16.900 listen. When it comes to the balancing of parental rights with kids growing into adulthood, I mean,
00:00:26.920 I don't think that there's anything wrong with parents wanting to protect their child's innocence
00:00:31.420 as long as possible on issues of sexuality. I think that that's a good instinct. But kids do get to a
00:00:38.460 point where they start making their own decisions. And so that's the balance that we're trying to get
00:00:42.980 to, is how do we make sure that we're supporting children as they grow into adults to become the
00:00:49.080 people they want to be, but making sure that the parents also have the right to ensure that
00:00:53.760 materials and education and exposure to some of these discussions happen at an age appropriate
00:00:59.980 level. And so we'll be releasing policy on this next week. Now to normal Albertans and Canadians,
00:01:05.840 what you just heard would be expected from a Conservative Premier, hardly even newsworthy.
00:01:10.540 The only newsworthy aspect to any of it would be the fact that it has taken the province so long to
00:01:14.800 do this in the first place. But to the Alberta NDP and the Alberta Teachers Association,
00:01:19.620 the reaction to Smith's comments to protect the rights of parents was one of fury and anger.
00:01:25.320 Members of both esteemed groups appeared to take Danielle Smith's announcement as some sort of
00:01:29.760 declaration of war. Seeing as how this new legislation will likely put an end to the practice of secret
00:01:35.740 social transitioning in schools, that being teachers keeping private from parents, the name and pronoun
00:01:42.520 change of students while at school, it really makes you wonder why these teachers and activists are
00:01:48.440 freaking out so much over the fact that they will no longer be able to keep secrets with children
00:01:52.780 away from their parents. Drop a like in the video, help us out by subscribing to the True North YouTube
00:01:57.220 channel. Stick around for the insane reaction to Danielle Smith's comments. And the comment question
00:02:02.540 for the episode is this, why do leftist politicians freak out so much over parental rights? Let me know
00:02:10.660 your answer in the comments below and let's get into it. Well, you heard what Danielle Smith said.
00:02:14.980 Now take a listen to the reaction from NDP MLA Janice Irwin, who by the way, may in fact be running to
00:02:22.340 lead the Alberta NDP in the coming months when she put out this reaction video pledging to fight back
00:02:28.000 against Danielle Smith's plans, whatever they might be, and how she's extremely worried about what this
00:02:32.940 might mean for queer and trans youth in Alberta schools.
00:02:36.760 Hey friends, just jumping on here really quickly because so many of you have asked me, what does it mean
00:02:41.480 when Danielle Smith says she's going to be introducing so-called parental rights policy this week?
00:02:47.620 Admittedly, I don't exactly know what it means yet. But I can tell you, I have a pretty big worry that it's going
00:02:54.080 to mean that life just got more difficult for queer and trans kids in schools. But it doesn't have to be this way.
00:03:00.840 And I know so many of you are worried and so many of you are concerned about what this could look like.
00:03:06.460 Listen, there's power in the people. So many of you spoke out in 2019 when the UCP made it more difficult
00:03:12.440 for young people to access GSAs, gay-straight alliances in schools. So we need to do that again.
00:03:18.100 So let's stay tuned. Let's wait to see what the details are. We won't wait too long and we won't be quiet.
00:03:23.280 And for those folks right now who are worried, who are sad, who are angry, listen, all your feelings
00:03:31.180 are valid. And I need you to know that we see you, we love you, and we're going to fight for you.
00:03:36.300 Who's with me?
00:03:38.140 Outgoing Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley also released a very similar video, but surprisingly
00:03:43.960 went even further than Janice Irwin, saying that Danielle Smith's plans to protect parental rights
00:03:50.160 is targeting children and is dog whistle politics. I want to be clear. The Alberta NDP will do
00:03:57.660 everything we can to ensure these targeted children are protected. Then, of course, she throws in a line
00:04:02.900 about how Danielle Smith was sharing a stage with Tucker Carlson, who was spouting homophobic
00:04:08.280 and racist rhetoric. Now, take a look at this statement from the Alberta Teachers Association
00:04:13.180 released a day after Danielle Smith announced her plans to introduce parental rights policy.
00:04:19.040 Premier Danielle Smith says the government will be releasing policy on parental rights this week.
00:04:24.000 She says they've consulted broadly on these issues, but so far, the Alberta Teachers Association has
00:04:29.420 not had any conversations about this with the premier or any government officials. The ATA has not been
00:04:35.800 advised or consulted by the premier, minister, or government officials regarding any proposed policy
00:04:40.640 regarding parental or children's rights. Broad consultation on policies affecting the operation of
00:04:46.760 schools must include the teaching profession. Of course, this statement is getting ratioed on Twitter with
00:04:52.880 people pointing out that the fact that the Alberta Teachers Association has not been consulted is exactly the
00:04:59.440 point. This is not about teachers. This is about parents being the sole and primary decision makers of their
00:05:06.400 own children and not having that decision making power that crucial and important decision making power stripped away from them when their children go to public school.
00:05:16.360 This response is from Lisa Bildy. You are not your pupils parents and have no say in the matter. Your sole job is to teach literacy, numeracy, and other basic concepts to children who are temporarily in your care.
00:05:28.400 It is not to indoctrinate them, challenge their family's values, or undermine their stable identities. This from Carl Harrison. It's because you are teachers. They don't need to consult you in that role. If you are also a parent, you'll be in a position to take part in the consultation in that role. That wasn't so hard, was it? And how about this response? Why should teachers and a teacher's union have a say over parental rights? I ask that as an Alberta teacher and a mother. I'm honestly asking.
00:05:57.400 Why does the ATA feel it should have input over parental rights? It appears the Alberta NDP want to try and paint the concerns of parents as fringe issues, dog whistle politics. These are not fringe issues. This is the mainstream. Parents are waking up to the reality that schools have completely gone off the rails, have begun indoctrinating children instead of actually educating children. Last year, tens of thousands of parents across
00:06:27.380 in Canada protested this exact issue in Canada protested this exact issue taking place in schools. The embrace of radical gender ideology and SOGI curriculum, sexual orientation and gender ideology in schools has reached a tipping point and parents have clearly had enough. Now, the practice of socially transitioning children behind the backs of their parents while at school is not even hidden by these schools. They're not even trying to hide the fact that they are doing this to students.
00:06:57.380 Now, you all saw how teachers, leftist activists and the legacy media reacted when New Brunswick and Saskatchewan put an end to this practice. Just imagine what the reaction will be when Danielle Smith does it. Alberta parents don't have to go far to find this practice written explicitly in their teaching guidelines for Alberta schools.
00:07:27.380 in Canada's education. Given the sensitivity related to one's gender identity and sexual orientation, should a student disclose their sexual orientation or that they are gender diverse to a Calgary Board of Education staff member, the information should be held in confidence. Unless a student provides permissions to share this information, the staff members should not disclose this information to anyone else, including other staff members and parents and guardians. Maybe one of the reasons why Canadian parents are so upset
00:07:57.380 radical gender ideology in soji curriculum. Besides the obvious besides the fact that teachers are encouraged and instructed to keep secrets with children behind the back to their parents is because test scores across the country have been dropping. According to the Fraser Institute from last year, Alberta test scores started dropping long before the pandemic. Between 2000 and 2018, Alberta students showed declines in reading, math and science as measured by the program for international student assessment. Math scores took
00:08:27.320 the biggest tumble with only Manitoba showing a bigger decline over the same period. Even though Alberta test scores appear to be dropping over the years, in science and reading, they actually top the country, which should tell you a lot about what's going on inside Canadian schools. It turns out that in 2022, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick were tied for the lowest math scores in the country. Since then, both provinces have put an end to the practice of secret social transitioning. Maybe they've realized that focusing on any
00:08:57.320 anything other than the basics is putting students behind. It's no surprise that we see this reaction from the Alberta NDP and from teachers unions. We've seen it in Ontario and we've seen it across the country as well. It appears that these teachers unions just want to have complete control over children while they're at school. Even the mention of parental rights seems to be a threat to these leftist politicians and teachers unions. Teachers aren't employed to indoctrinate children. They're employed to teach kids how to read, write and do math.
00:09:27.320 Teachers that they're just not very good at. But by all means, keep striking every year for more money, more time off and more benefits and keep fighting back against parents who want to have control over their own children. You may think you're in the majority, but I can assure you that you are not. Alright everyone, that's going to do it for us today on the show. Thank you so much for tuning in. My name is Harrison Faulkner and this is Ratio.
00:09:57.320 We'll see you next time.