The so-called “parental rights” movement — associated with far-right conservatism and anti-LGBTTQ+ sentiment — has crept into a Winnipeg school trustee byelection campaign, mirroring a trend across Canada.
Two candidates in the Louis Riel School Division Ward 1 vote — Marcel Boille and Sandra Saint-Cyr — are campaigning on the movement’s rhetoric, drawing concerns from board members and challengers on Thursday’s ballot.
“The rhetoric that has been coming from these two candidates is belligerent, confrontational and anti-inclusion,” said Ward 3 trustee Ryan Palmquist, who stressed that he was speaking for himself and not on behalf of the board. “I would like to see that ideology rejected at the ballot box.”
Five candidates are vying to replace Francine Champagne, who quit in November after being suspended for racist and anti-LGBTTQ+ social media posts. The board was pursuing a court application to seek permission to oust her.
The three other candidates for the ward in St. Boniface are Jacqueline Cassel-Cramer, Bob Lawrie and Ian Walker.
Marcel Boille
Boille’s campaign pamphlet champions Champagne and tries to woo people who voted for her in 2022.
It mentions “parental rights,” while alleging parents are being kept in the dark about what is being taught in schools — a claim denied by board members and teachers who spoke to the Free Press.
“Diversity or inclusion only applies if you agree with them,” Boille said of the board.
He confirmed he was one of more than 30 people given a no-trespass order by LRSD, after Champagne’s supporters disrupted a board meeting last June to protest her suspension for sharing transphobic content on social media.
In that incident, anti-LGBTTQ+ slurs were uttered. Police were notified.
Boille said he does not want LGBTTQ+, gender identity or sexual education to be part of children’s learning in schools.
The byelection, as it happens, is taking place during Pride Month.
Sandra Saint-Cyr
In an email, Saint-Cyr, a teacher, said she was unavailable for a phone interview, because her “slate is full.” She said she would respond to questions via email, but had not done so by Friday evening.
Saint-Cyr’s pamphlet makes various claims about activities or spaces within LRSD schools. She believes parental consent should be required in regards to gender affirmation.
LRSD Supt. Christian Michalik said Saint-Cyr’s claims misrepresent the “lived experiences” in the division’s schools.
He said he’s worried that the claims could have negative impacts on staff and students.
“What troubles me the most is they call into question the integrity of our teachers,” he said. “I worry for the staff that work tirelessly to create really positive and nurturing environments for students.”
Board chair Sandy Nemeth (Ward 3) was disappointed and disheartened by the views expressed in Boille and Saint-Cyr’s campaign literature.
“The language, the words (of the “parental rights” movement) — just that rhetoric that people are less somehow — is harmful,” she said. “There are, thank goodness, a lot of folks who are willing to stand up and say no.”
Nemeth and Palmquist said they do not want a repeat of the issues that led to Champagne’s resignation.
The board’s policies and code of conduct remain the same, said Nemeth.
“They are very much central to ensuring that everybody — all students, staff and everybody who enters our schools — enter knowing that, regardless of how they identify, they are respected, they are valued, and that’s not going to change,” she said.
The new trustee will be required to sign the code of conduct, which Champagne refused to do.
“Everyone needs to have a safe space, and we have to be tolerant and accepting of people.”–Bob Lawrie
Palmquist, who has publicly endorsed Walker, said the notion that the wool is being pulled over parents’ eyes is rooted in paranoia and hateful ideology.
“That needs to be fully and unequivocally opposed and spoken out against,” he said, noting some voters who see the term “parental rights” may not be aware of what a candidate means by using it.
Palmquist said the situation should serve as a reminder that it matters who gets elected to school boards, and voters should research the candidates before casting their ballots.
In interviews or biographies, fellow candidates Cassel-Cramer, Lawrie and Walker made clear they do not hold the same views as Boille and Saint-Cyr.
“Everyone needs to have a safe space, and we have to be tolerant and accepting of people,” said Lawrie, a sport program director who also provides training for physical education teachers. “Parents already have rights. We have to make sure the kids are safe.”
Walker, a teacher, said it’s frustrating to see Boille and Saint-Cyr spreading “misinformation.”
“Schools should be a safe place for everybody in our community,” he said. “Schools are doing a good job of communicating with families. When people say we’re not, it’s frustrating.”
“Schools are doing a good job of communicating with families. When people say we’re not, it’s frustrating.”–Ian Walker
In her campaign biography, Cassel-Cramer, a senior policy analyst, said she believes in safe, supportive environments “where students and staff of all ages, origin, religion, orientation or abilities, are supported to realize their full potential.”
Lawrie and Walker said there are a number of important issues in the byelection, such as ensuring class sizes are appropriate to support learning.
Evan Balgord, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, said the “parental rights” movement — fuelled by Christian nationalist groups — emerged in school board elections about two years ago.
“The ultimate goal of groups pushing ‘parental rights’ is to erase references to queer people in schools,” he said. “When you scratch the surface, it’s more about owning their children than having a wonderful opportunity to be in your child’s life.”
Balgord said children have rights of their own.
“Parental rights” proponents tend to want school libraries to ban books with content they claim is sexually explicit, or object to children using a pronoun that does not correspond to the gender they were assigned at birth.
There are examples of a school board’s work being disrupted after a “parental rights” proponent was elected as a trustee, he said.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Chris Kitching
Reporter
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
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