Ford weighs in on boards telling parents about children’s pronouns amid Greenbelt scandal

Premier Doug Ford has weighed in on an ongoing debate of whether parents should be told if their children want to change their pronouns, but his political opponents are accusing the provincial leader of using it to distract from the Greenbelt scandal.

The Premier was speaking at his Ford Fest rally in Kitchener Friday night and echoed the stance taken in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, saying parents should be told if their child wants to change their gender identity.

Doug Ford accused school boards of “indoctrinating” students.

“Most important is the parents’ rights, the parents’ rights to listen and make sure they are informed when they make a decision. It’s not up to the teachers, it’s not up to the school boards to indoctrinate our kids,” said Ford. “I can’t even figure out what school boards to nowadays by the way.”

The Greenbelt scandal, which has led to the resignation of Housing Minister Steve Clark and his chief of staff, has taken a toll on the Ford government.

Scathing reports from two provincial watchdogs found the process of handing the once-protected land over was compromised and stood to benefit certain developers.

Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake found Clark violated two sections of the Members’ Integrity Act that governs politicians’ ethics, conflict of interest rules and insider information rules.

A review of the entire Greenbelt is now expected under the new housing minister after the 14 parcels of land were opened up to development.

An Angus Reid poll released on Friday shows he is at his lowest approval rating yet, with just 28 per cent.

I think that the Premier clearly is feeling the pressure and he’s looking to deflect over corruption crisis he’s in the middle of,” said Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles.

The Toronto District School Board, which is Canada’s largest, has a policy which states a school should not disclose a student’s status to their parent “without the student’s explicit prior consent.”  However, a TDSB spokesperson tells CityNews parents are involved in the vast majority of cases, but there are a limited number where a student has identified a safety concern. 

“This has become a political issue,” said Bob Richardson, a former Liberal Chief of Staff, with Pres Hammersmith Consulting. “I think it is really important to point out that it affects 0.03 per cent of the population, and 99.7 percent of pop is unaffected by this.”

New Brunswick and Saskatchewan have policies that have made it mandatory for teachers to obtain parental consent before students under 16 can be addressed by preferred pronouns. 

In a statement Monday a Ford spokesperson wrote, “We’re confident in the existing protocols and are not currently exploring any legislative changes.” 

“I think the Premier has a long history of shooting from the hip and saying what’s on his mind,” suggested Jamie Ellerton with Conaptus on why Ford would wade into this debate. “I highly doubt it was strategic.

But Richardson said, given Ford’s Greenbelt polling, raising the issue doesn’t hurt.

“I think any time anyone is talking about an issue and it’s not the Greenbelt, that’s better for Doug Ford,” said Richardson.

Meanwhile, Ontario’s new Minister of Housing has suggested he may not be moving forward with a review of regional governments like Durham, Halton and York, that could potentially break them up in the way Peel region is being disbanded. 

Minister Paul Calandra says he wants to make sure homes get built in those areas.