Juno News - June 26, 2023


Lecce RUNS AWAY as parents slam gender ideology in Ontario schools


Episode Stats

Length

14 minutes

Words per Minute

180.44417

Word Count

2,535

Sentence Count

170

Misogynist Sentences

7

Hate Speech Sentences

3


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 I just want to ask about Bill 98, just your own legislation.
00:00:03.060 Like, can we organize something?
00:00:05.060 I don't know right now.
00:00:06.740 Harrison Faulkner for True North.
00:00:08.840 On Friday, we went down to FordFest, the annual PC party and Doug Ford celebration.
00:00:14.080 We went there to try and figure out what the heck is going on inside Ontario's schools.
00:00:18.960 Last year, when footage emerged of a transgender shop class teacher in Oakville
00:00:23.840 who wears giant prosthetic Z-cup breasts in front of his class,
00:00:28.720 Ontario became the laughingstock of the world.
00:00:31.840 Not just for how absurd it was,
00:00:34.120 but because the Ontario government refused to do anything about it for months.
00:00:38.860 Since then, independent journalists and parents began to take a closer look
00:00:42.700 at what's been going on behind their backs at our schools.
00:00:45.980 And let's just say that the discoveries have been downright disturbing.
00:00:50.420 We now know that schools in Ontario have been actively hiding from parents
00:00:54.740 the trans identity of their children while at school,
00:00:57.660 allowing them to use a different name and different pronouns and not telling parents.
00:01:02.560 We spoke with a TDSB trustee and he confirmed that the largest school board in Canada
00:01:07.540 is indeed doing that.
00:01:10.060 We also know that male students have free access to
00:01:13.520 female bathrooms and change rooms while at school.
00:01:17.260 If you want to know what happens to a student who opposes this measure,
00:01:21.080 just ask student activist leader, Josh Alexander.
00:01:23.740 School surveys have been sent out to students in grades as early as four
00:01:28.560 asking about their sexual identity and in grades as early as seven
00:01:32.400 asking students if they are transgender.
00:01:35.360 Why exactly school boards need to know this information hasn't been made clear to us.
00:01:39.320 How about the discovery of sexually explicit books
00:01:42.420 at Ontario public school libraries like Gender Queer and Lawn Boy?
00:01:47.320 Throughout all of this, Ontario test scores in math and other subjects have plummeted,
00:01:52.240 thanks in large part to the government shutting schools down during the pandemic.
00:01:56.380 Parents have reached their breaking point.
00:01:58.360 They are now gathering in their hundreds outside of Ontario schools
00:02:01.640 to protest gender ideology inside the classroom
00:02:05.040 and to repeat the now famous phrase,
00:02:07.800 leave our kids alone.
00:02:09.460 Leave our kids alone!
00:02:11.520 Leave our kids alone!
00:02:13.500 Leave our kids alone!
00:02:15.500 We went to FordFest to try and track down
00:02:17.600 Education Minister Stephen Lecce
00:02:19.360 to ask him about what is taking place inside these schools
00:02:22.880 and if he thinks parents have a right to know
00:02:24.620 if their children are undergoing a social transition at school.
00:02:28.280 As you're going to see, the second he saw us approach,
00:02:31.980 he ran away from us.
00:02:33.480 He didn't want to answer any questions
00:02:35.360 and we didn't even ask him any tough questions either.
00:02:37.820 We asked him about his own legislation.
00:02:40.760 We also spoke with PC Party supporters and attendees at FordFest
00:02:44.480 to ask them what they thought of how education is being handled
00:02:47.640 by Stephen Lecce and Doug Ford.
00:02:50.400 Take a look at what happened on Friday.
00:02:52.060 In Ontario schools, teachers and school boards
00:02:55.740 are keeping private from parents their own children
00:02:59.940 undergoing social gender transitions
00:03:02.440 using a different name and different gender pronouns at school
00:03:05.240 and not telling the parents.
00:03:07.360 What do you make of that?
00:03:07.940 In my opinion, the gender should be separated from the school.
00:03:13.240 It is impossible to keep it together.
00:03:16.540 Children should learn from the beginning
00:03:19.400 not LGBT and not LGBT.
00:03:22.320 Not.
00:03:23.080 It's something wrong with this, you know.
00:03:24.800 LGBT, we accept this.
00:03:28.100 But they should be quiet.
00:03:29.560 They should...
00:03:30.620 They are not...
00:03:33.000 It's around 1-2% of them, okay?
00:03:38.140 I don't know why they're doing the noise.
00:03:40.840 Why?
00:03:41.200 What's the reason?
00:03:42.940 Most people, they don't care about them.
00:03:47.080 But they shouldn't...
00:03:50.060 For example, it's one month of pride.
00:03:52.840 Why is one month?
00:03:53.800 It's totally enough one day only.
00:03:56.940 Why the school put the flags?
00:03:59.280 Why?
00:03:59.720 What is the reason?
00:04:01.520 The most important is family.
00:04:04.740 Everything should be together with family.
00:04:09.140 You know, I think that is complete BS.
00:04:10.780 Yes, being a parent myself of three kids from the ages of 10 and down.
00:04:14.800 You know, if my kids had a problem with identifying what gender they go by, I think it's the parents' right to know.
00:04:21.500 We are their guardians.
00:04:22.340 We are their parents.
00:04:23.260 And it's not for a teacher or school or anybody else to withhold that type of information from the family.
00:04:27.840 You know what?
00:04:28.820 If one of my own children was to come out, say they wanted to be gender neutral or, you know, they want to be referred to as whatever, I have no problem with it being a parent.
00:04:37.580 My children have the right to make their own decisions.
00:04:40.200 But you know what?
00:04:40.960 The school boards do not have the right to hold that back from any parents in any which way, shape, or form.
00:04:47.580 You know what?
00:04:48.100 Those are our children, not yours.
00:04:50.660 And you know what?
00:04:51.820 If there's something that is happening with my children, I expect the school and the school board and those teachers to let us know.
00:04:58.260 Especially when they're under the age of majority, when we are their guardians and we basically are their voices.
00:05:03.560 What do you make of the way that the province, Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce, have handled education in Ontario so far?
00:05:10.040 Not good at all.
00:05:11.520 The fact that they're trying to silence parents' voices is absolutely despicable.
00:05:16.740 They are forgetting in loco parentis, which means they are an agent of the parent.
00:05:21.740 They are not the parent.
00:05:24.440 You might have heard me speak to another gentleman here.
00:05:26.560 In New Brunswick, they've just passed a law to stop the practice of withholding the information from parents,
00:05:31.600 allowing children to socially transition with other parents, knowing.
00:05:35.160 Is it time for Ontario to do the same?
00:05:37.680 I think that Ontario needs to start forcing schools to have to tell the parents.
00:05:45.540 It's their children.
00:05:47.100 They need to know.
00:05:47.880 They need to be able to raise their kids.
00:05:50.540 The teachers are not the parents.
00:05:52.380 So I'm with DDSB Concerned Parents as well as Durham Parents United.
00:06:00.080 And I only just started getting up and going to my school board when there's meetings and trying to talk to my trustees and whatever else.
00:06:08.920 It's not difficult to do.
00:06:10.720 It's very easy to come up and just let your voice be heard.
00:06:14.080 Don't be afraid.
00:06:14.820 You can't be afraid of being called names anymore.
00:06:16.720 Your children are worth so much more than that.
00:06:18.880 What do you make of how education has been handled by Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce?
00:06:23.420 Very poorly.
00:06:24.660 Why is that?
00:06:25.500 That's because he wants to save public money.
00:06:27.580 He doesn't want to spend public money on the public.
00:06:29.960 That's simple.
00:06:30.440 He doesn't want to subsidize the private sector.
00:06:32.200 That's one way you do it.
00:06:33.120 You cut back on education, all your public services.
00:06:36.700 That's it.
00:06:37.420 It's a name and a game for these people.
00:06:38.840 One of the big issues going around right now is that teachers are withholding information about students undergoing a gender social transition using a different name and different pronoun at school, not telling parents.
00:06:53.540 What do you make of that?
00:06:54.780 Well, my granddaughter's a transgender and that, so I guess they've got to protect themselves, I guess.
00:07:03.220 Remember, 1960 in Ontario, there were only three or four people that were transgender.
00:07:07.360 Now there's thousands in that, eh?
00:07:10.260 So, you know.
00:07:12.120 The common line of defense for this is that outing a child to their own parents is a dangerous thing.
00:07:19.540 Do you agree with that?
00:07:20.500 Or do you think that parents should know if their child is using a different name or pronoun at a school?
00:07:25.540 It's up to the child.
00:07:26.600 If they want their parents in on it, then it's up to them.
00:07:29.220 What do you think about education, the way it's been handled by the Premier and the Education Minister so far?
00:07:33.800 Excellent.
00:07:34.480 Everyone should be educated and they're doing a very good job.
00:07:37.820 What do you make of the fact that in schools now, teachers and principals at schools are withholding the social transition of children,
00:07:44.520 allowing children to go by a different pronoun and name than the parents have, and they're keeping that information from parents?
00:07:50.480 What do you make of that?
00:07:51.260 Not good.
00:07:52.080 Not good?
00:07:52.740 I don't like it.
00:07:53.940 In New Brunswick, they've just passed a law to repeal that, to make that process illegal.
00:07:58.480 Do you think the government in Ontario should do the same?
00:08:00.820 Yes.
00:08:01.880 The provincial government should get involved if they believe in parents' rights.
00:08:06.860 If they believe in parents' rights, unfortunately, the current government does not.
00:08:11.340 The provincial government doesn't believe in parental rights.
00:08:14.360 If they were, they would have let the parents decide what type of curriculum and what their children learn in school.
00:08:23.700 So I'm guessing you think there needs to be a law to stop this practice from schools?
00:08:28.740 What do you think?
00:08:29.220 Because they did it in New Brunswick, but they haven't done it in Ontario yet.
00:08:32.200 But personally, I don't think that the current government is on the liberal side.
00:08:40.640 So, but if they were, yeah, should be a law, absolutely, that will make parents the sole decider of their children,
00:08:51.980 what they learn in schools.
00:08:53.020 The question we're asking parents here, and I know it's a bit of an education file, but it is in the news.
00:09:12.100 Does the government believe that parents have a right to know if students are going through a social transition at school
00:09:17.860 using different names and pronouns?
00:09:19.260 Because right now, school boards are keeping that information private, confidential from parents.
00:09:23.880 What are your thoughts on that?
00:09:24.940 Well, my thoughts are I stick in my lane.
00:09:26.820 I've got so much going on in the Attorney General's office, getting the courts running and humming.
00:09:30.900 And so I'm not going to comment on education.
00:09:33.140 I'm sure you'll be chatting with Steve Lecce.
00:09:35.160 Okay, we're trying to find him, but I appreciate you taking the time.
00:09:37.780 Yeah.
00:09:39.660 Minister Lecce, I'm with True North, Harrison Faulkner.
00:09:43.120 Just Bill 78.
00:09:47.000 How do you plan to hold...
00:09:48.440 I just want to ask you about Bill 98.
00:09:57.280 Your own legislation.
00:09:58.560 Can we organize something?
00:10:01.480 Okay, can we...
00:10:02.780 Can I communicate with your staff?
00:10:04.860 You can reach out to Grace Lee.
00:10:06.660 Sorry, hold on.
00:10:07.380 Grace Lee, that's the media person in our office.
00:10:09.840 I can't just interview.
00:10:12.900 I can't just interview.
00:10:13.400 All right, so we tried.
00:10:20.740 We tried to track him down all the way from the field over here to the bathroom.
00:10:24.480 He's hidden in the bathroom.
00:10:25.480 Now he's come out.
00:10:26.000 He doesn't want to talk about Bill 98, his own policy.
00:10:29.100 But further, I'm guessing he doesn't want to talk about what parents have to say about teachers withholding gender identity,
00:10:35.560 gender transitions from parents in schools.
00:10:39.180 You'd think that's the kind of thing the education minister of the PC party would be all over.
00:10:43.060 But just the idea of talking to us in independent media doesn't seem to be what they want to do.
00:10:46.900 Well, we reached out to Stephen Lecce's communication staff to ask them the questions we were going to ask Stephen Lecce before he ran away from us.
00:10:55.060 They didn't respond to our email and get back to us in time for this video.
00:10:58.600 Okay, TDSB trustee, Mr. Dennis Hastings.
00:11:01.560 Okay, yes, so we're here asking parents what they think of the education file being handled by the province.
00:11:07.160 In particular, we know that at the TDSB, or it's also happening in other schools,
00:11:12.500 that teachers and school boards are withholding the information of children undergoing social transitions,
00:11:19.280 different names and different pronouns from parents.
00:11:21.900 You're a trustee.
00:11:22.460 Could you explain why that's taking place in Ontario schools?
00:11:25.100 I'm still yet to get a grasp of that, but it does happen, I'm afraid to say.
00:11:31.140 But again, I haven't gotten to the bottom of that yet.
00:11:34.620 Is it the kind of thing that you think would be important for school boards to do,
00:11:38.900 or as a trustee, do you think that's the kind of thing that should be stopped in schools?
00:11:43.000 I don't think it should be in schools.
00:11:45.760 Do you face any pushback from other TDSB trustees for your positions?
00:11:50.180 No.
00:11:51.020 No, you don't?
00:11:51.820 No.
00:11:52.800 We also know that last year there was a TDSB census given out to students.
00:11:58.060 In grades as young as four, students were asked about their sexual identity.
00:12:01.560 And in grades as young as seven, they were asked if they were transgender.
00:12:06.160 Why does the TDSB want to know that information about students at that age?
00:12:09.560 I couldn't tell you, and it shouldn't happen.
00:12:12.060 They don't know they're alive yet, so why would you?
00:12:16.220 Well, that's interesting because I think from a lot of people's perspective,
00:12:19.220 they view that the school boards are homogenous groups that are pushing this.
00:12:22.620 But it's interesting to hear from a trustee that you don't think it should be happening.
00:12:26.020 No.
00:12:26.320 All right, that wraps up FordFest 2023.
00:12:29.460 As you just saw, we tried to track down the Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce,
00:12:33.640 but he ran away from us, ladies and gentlemen.
00:12:35.860 In fact, he ran into the bathroom trying to get away from conservative independent media.
00:12:40.440 All we did, actually, was just ask him about a recent piece of legislation he passed, Bill 98,
00:12:45.380 a bill to hold school boards accountable.
00:12:48.060 You'd think that's the kind of thing that an education minister like him would want to talk about.
00:12:51.660 But he must have known that we were going to ask him later about parents wanting to know what's going on
00:12:56.640 with their children in schools, because right now they don't.
00:12:58.740 Right now, as we talked to you before, teachers are withholding the social transition of children from parents.
00:13:06.340 And Ontario hasn't done anything about it.
00:13:08.200 We spoke to supporters of the government that had very serious words to say about it as well.
00:13:12.540 They do not like this policy.
00:13:13.800 They want to see the government do something about this.
00:13:16.160 But as of right now, they're not.
00:13:17.880 Maybe that's why Stephen Lecce didn't want to talk to us.
00:13:20.100 We also tracked down the attorney general, Doug Downey.
00:13:22.880 He didn't want to talk about it either.
00:13:24.480 Understandably, he wanted to stay in his lane.
00:13:26.360 It seems to be a hot-button issue, but you would think for conservatives it would be a home run,
00:13:30.840 the kind of thing that would play well with their base.
00:13:32.980 We spoke to them, and the base likes it.
00:13:34.520 But for whatever reason, the government doesn't want to talk about it.
00:13:37.200 We also spoke to one man who has a transgender granddaughter,
00:13:39.800 and he likes the idea of students being able to keep their social transition secret from parents.
00:13:45.840 It's important to tell both sides of the story here,
00:13:47.900 but I can tell you for certain the majority of people we spoke to want to see the government do something about this.
00:13:53.040 They want to see Ontario stop this practice.
00:13:56.600 Will the Premier answer?
00:13:57.680 Will they do anything about it?
00:13:59.100 That is to be seen.
00:14:00.420 For True North, in Scarborough, Harrison Faulkner.