Commentary
The new school year has only just started and already we are seeing reports of radical political agendas happening in the school boards of some of Ontario’s largest cities.
Given the now-widespread acknowledgement that the “woke” politics of the recent past had gone way too far, you’d think our major public institutions would have toned down the divisive rhetoric. Apparently not, though.
A recent presentation at an elementary school staff meeting denounced education itself as “white supremacy,” and a presentation to a classroom at another school labelled physical toughness and self-sufficiency as traits of “toxic masculinity.”
This is just plain wrong. This sort of radical language shouldn’t be pushed in our education system, and yet here we are. While efforts have been made to reform the Ontario education system in recent years, much more needs to be done. Standards and rules must be enforced.
It was in a Peel District School Board class that the toxic masculinity phrase came up. An anonymous student took a photo of the screen and shared it with a parent, who then had it distributed on social media.
The photo was of a slide that was part of a presentation called “consent culture” and this particular slide was headlined “Toxic Masculinity in Schools.”
Here’s the main text of the slide: “Toxic masculinity exhibits traits that are characteristic to men, such as: aggression; being stoic; physical and mental toughness; emotional insensitivity; self-sufficiency; discrimination against everything not …” This line ends here on the slide and is incomplete.
What on earth is going on here? Are students really being told that toughness and self-sufficiency are “toxic” and that they presumably need to be eradicated? Are the quieter, stoic boys in the room being made to feel ashamed of themselves?
Peel Region is home to the large cities of Mississauga and Brampton. Is this happening in just one classroom in one school, or is this endemic across these cities? How many boys are being institutionally bullied—because that’s what this is—due to their gender?
Then there’s the staff meeting that took place at a York Region school—an area that covers over a million residents and includes the cities of Markham, Vaughan, and Richmond Hill. Teachers were subjected to a slide presentation on the “anti-oppressive agreements” they’re apparently supposed to follow.
“I will accept that the institution of education is an instrumental tool for maintaining and furthering the ideology of white supremacy,” said the slide. “It is not the responsibility of people with intersecting marginalized identities to prove this.”
What does one say in response? This is just bonkers, and this oddball thinking should not be allowed in any professional environment. And it certainly shouldn’t form the basis of some sort of “agreement” that the people tasked with educating our youth are expected to follow. It’s a form of harassment to subject educators to these sorts of mind games.
If they genuinely believe education is a tool of white supremacy, then why are staff even having the meeting? Shouldn’t they quit and disband the school?
Actually, maybe they should be disbanded, but not for the reasons put forward in this loopy slide.
In 2025, Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra effectively disbanded eight school boards, by removing the powers of the trustees. He placed the boards under the leadership of an interim supervisor who reports directly to the minister.
The justification for this was largely because of financial mismanagement, following reports of anomalous spending at a number of boards. There should be a mechanism though for the ministry to also take over the boards due to a general failure to fulfill their obligations to students.
If these radical agendas are widespread in the classrooms of these boards—and this is far from the first time we’ve seen such examples—that should be cause to install a supervisor to enact standards and accountability.
Here’s a funny thing, though: Of those eight boards that were placed under supervision, one was the Peel District School Board where the “toxic masculinity” presentation happened.
You’d think a school already under supervision would be extra careful about behaving themselves and avoiding such antics. Instead, it seems some teachers and administrators are so emboldened they feel comfortable pushing these agendas in plain sight.
The individuals behind these jarring incidents likely see nothing wrong with what they’ve done. Maybe they’re indignant that they’re even being called out for it.
That’s too bad for them, though. Education policy is government policy—reporting to the ministry, which is ultimately accountable to the electorate.
When the Ontario government first put the eight boards under supervision, there was little to no public opposition. In fact, a lot of people supported the move.
If the government were to likewise act decisively to remove these radical agendas from the classroom, they’d probably receive the same response.
So let’s get it done. The students’ needs are not well-served by letting these episodes continue. We can’t let the school year continue this way.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
