Was there ever a better commercial than the one advertising “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”? The celebratory music rings out as the parent joyfully traverses the aisles of the store preparing for Back to School. The children, somber, trudge behind with their faces a huge contrast to their joyful parent.

Some schools are already back in session, while others will go in after Labour Day but, either way, we will face again the challenges of school boards across Canada clinging to the illusion that they have a right to control the moral values of Canadian school children.

It grates on me when I hear a teacher thank parents for their support as the teachers educate little Bobby or little Susie. Parents, who conceived, birthed, raised, loved and nurtured, and continue to do so, their child are being thanked for playing an insignificant role in helping with their child’s education. Would the appropriate approbation not be to thank the parent for entrusting little Bobby or little Susie to the teacher’s care? Would it not be better for the teacher to acknowledge that it is a tremendous honour to be considered by the parents to be a suitable alternative, along with the assurance that they will do their best to be worthy of the trust placed upon them.

We all know that our Provincial governments have jurisdiction over education, but there is no doubt that our federal government holds a lot of the strings, including through legislation that places a child outside of parental authority regarding discussions and professional intervention on conversations about the child’s sexuality. Parents received notice of their diminished role with the passing of Bill C4, which received Royal Assent on December 8, 2021.

As a federal political party, in 2024, we found it necessary to develop policies on education to ensure the rights of parents are not relegated to the trash heap of history.

The role of parents is huge in the life of a child. From complete dependence, the child moves through stages to independence. Not everyone matures at the same speed, but each child does go through a process…a process that loving parents guide their children through.

There is a contest playing out today with parents being excluded by some school boards from knowing if their child is changing his/her name or pronouns. Have you checked with your local school board to find out their policy? It would be wise to do so!

This must remind us of Josh Alexander’s fight with the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board in 2022, because some girls engaged him in a discussion with the administration of the high school about the discomfort to the young ladies caused by mixed washrooms.

This became a prominent matter as he faced suspensions from his school and his parents lost their jobs as teachers. But has the de-feminization of women ended?

No! In spite of obvious biological realities, the obfuscating of our children continues…led by our governments and schools.

In Barrie, ON, December 2023, a 50 year old biological male, shared a locker room with young females aged 8 years to 16 years old. Can you imagine a 12 year old with her changing body being forced to undress in front of a 50 year old biological male because those that should know better say that he’s the same as her? Her eyes can see, beyond a shadow of doubt, that he is not the same as she is.

But, of course, she’s “just a girl” so why should anyone care? From the past rears the ugly misogynistic viewpoint that girls don’t matter.

These violations of decency are being fed to us by a public school systems that belittle athletic girls in some schools by having them face bigger, stronger male athletes pretending that they are what they obviously are not. Perhaps, those commissioned to teach our children should reread Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Emperors New Clothes” to expose the fear of speaking the truth.

Can we forget in 2011 when publicly funded Valley Park Middle School allowed a Muslim prayer service weekly in the school where girls were relegated to a spot behind the boys and menstruating girls at the back of the gym? “You’re unclean! Go to the back of the gym,” is not a problem, after all, they were “just girls”! Worse than that, those at the back were menstruating girls.

Where are the women’s rights groups who should be defending our daughters and sisters? They should be challenging a school system that fails to teach very basic biology; that fails to celebrate that God created us male and female—and they are different.

School is commencing for Canadian children. Canadian parents must take up the challenge and view what their children are being taught and challenge that which is contrary to their family’s values.

CHP is always in the fight to protect children and to empower parents to protect their children. Our policies call for parents to be informed of what is being taught in a classroom, including moral, religious, or spiritual instruction or practices. We require parents to be notified prior to any discussion of controversial subjects. We stand on a parent’s right to withdraw their child from a classroom.

CHP stands on the truth that parents make decisions for their children based in the love they have for their child, not on the receipt of a piece of paper that can’t certify someone’s knowledge of basic biology.

It’s time to look past the parties that will not stand with Canadian families, to those that will stand with Canadian families. We live in a different world than our parents and grandparents, a world that requires constant vigilance to protect Canadian families and Canadian values.

It’s time to join CHP.