Will Tea Party Tim bow to his militant tendency on sex ed?

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/04/21/13670271.html

With new and needed reforms coming into the way sexual education is taught in this province, it is no surprise that the PC's are playing politics with the issue. The new curriculum is an accurate and progressive way to examine the role sex plays in our society, and allow children to comprehend and understand the responsibilities they have to themselves in society.

The new program is actually fairly moderate by the overall standards of the country, according to the Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario-near-middle-of-canadian-curve-in-content-of-its-sex-ed-program/article1542651/ but the Tim Hudak PC's look set to make the health of our children, and in particular, teaching children the reality of the GLBTQ community in Ontario an excuse to throw some red meat to the base. According to the Globe and Mail:

Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak plans to use the new sex education curriculum as an opportunity to attract advocates for family values, party insiders say.

Indeed, these changes have been public since January, and have only become an issue since Charles McVety, a Christian right leader with very close ties to the Progressive Conservative Party raised the issue. Let's review McVety's positions on some issues and his ties to the PC Party:

-Organized an anti-evolution and anti-Darwin protest outside the ROM in 2008.

-Claimed that environmentalism and pro-environmental policies would "fund the one world government of the Anti-Christ."

-On a related note, he said that disgraced US Christian right leader Ted Haggard was punished by God for discussing the environment, saying that "God turned him over to his vile passions." So really, a two for one in extremism, since he says environmentalism is a tool of the devil and that homosexuality is "vile."

-Said that police should charge Pride Parade participants.

-Argued in favour of state censorship of films which feature any sort of sexual content, regardless of how mild, and said that films discussing GLBTQ issues "proselytize young people into homosexuality."

-Said that atheists do not have freedom of religion.

-Claimed that "Same sex education is commonly used as a proselytizing tool."

-Said Canada should "apologize to the world" for same sex marriage.

- Labelled the GLBTQ community as a "special interest groups with an agenda" including former education minister Kathleen Wynne, who is openly gay.

And now let's review the ties of McVety to the PC Party:

-Both McVety and Tim Hudak spoke at a "Canadians for Bush" rally in 2003 in support of the Iraq War. The rally was organized by Tristan Emmanuel, another powerful figure on the religious right with strong ties to the PC Party (serving as Randy Hillier's campaign manager for his leadership bid) and who has called gays "sexual deviants", homosexuality as a "wrong choice", linked sex orientation to pedophilia, and agreed that Islam was a "evil and wicked religion."

-McVety endorsed and was a strong supporter of Frank Klees in the PC leadership race. Klees finished in 2nd in the race and current serves as a front-bench critic for Public Infrastructure and Transportation. Klees was also endorsed by the anti-choice Campaign Life Coalition.

-Supports faith-based education, which was the cornerstone of the last PC campaign.

-Has joined in attacking Human Rights Tribunals and Commissions with Tim Hudak.

-Allegedly used access to PC membership lists from Klees to try and raise money for his faith-based school.

-Has been an important financial donor to the PC Party.

If Tim Hudak and the PC's win the next election, the curriculum of public education in Ontario would be drafted by people who think teaching children about the existence of gays is "indoctrination", that to care for the environment means to embrace Satan (guess how many green jobs a Hudak government would create), that homosexuality is "vile", and that evolution is false. I often say that the times have changed but Tim Hudak hasn't, but on this issue, the PC Party is coming straight from the 19th century.

Conservative nomination candidate in Mississauga South attacks secular school system

Don Stephens, Peel District School Board trustee for Mississauga's Ward 2, and candidate for the federal Conservative nomination in Mississauga South (and presumed frontrunner, as the other two candidates don't really have any name recognition) issued an attack on the public and secular education system, saying there is a "total neglect" neglect of Christianity in Peel's public schools.

This article was in the Mississauga News, but can't be found on the website, so I'm taking these quotes directly from the text.

"There is a gap across numerous schools in regard to the major religion of Canada, which is the Christian faith"

"At a number of schools there was minimal, or a total neglect, in representing the Christian faith"

Stephens then asked what steps the administration had taken "to ensure that schools understand and represent Christianity"

Given the multicultural nature of Mississauga South, Stephens comments are likely more an appeal to the base of the Conservatives, rather than an actual policy proposal, but it is still unsettling. When Stevens calls Christianity the "major religion" of Canada, I simply think back to my days at Port Credit Secondary School, a wonderfully diverse place (which would have had its diversity ruined if John Tory and Tim Peterson had had their way) where yes, a balanced and informative Religion class was taught, and students of all faiths intermixed, and where Christianity was by no means the major religion of the school. The Canadian multicultural and multi religious way could be best seen at Port Credit in the way each holiday and season during the year had a student run event for it, so within the same school year you could see and hear Christmas carols, Hindu food and dancing, and Muslim Friday prayers in the drama room. These were all examples of students, as private individuals, displaying faith in a communal setting, and it sets a wonderful example for Canadian multicultural policy being a success. Stephens demands that public, secular institutions formalize Christian supremacy would be a step back.

Issues like these and faith based funding show the clear difference between Liberals and Conservatives on our multicultural society. Liberals believe in cultural exchange and co-operation, finding unity in diversity, while Conservative are stuck in the colonial mindset that somehow each group will be happier if they keep to themselves and accept the dominance of superior culture. In an area as diverse as Mississauga, we can't afford to move backwards on multiculturalism.