Remembrance Day is a Conundrum for Ontario School Boards

The Critical Theory in Education makes honouring Canadian soldiers uncomfortable (for activists)

Image from the Belfry Theatre

By Igor Stravinsky (Teacher, commentator)

Ontario school boards, like most of our institutions, have been taken over by Critical Theory activists who have ensured that "identities" and "lived experiences" form the cornerstone of board policies and practice. 

Accordingly, in schools, Canada is depicted as a genocidal, white-supremacist state. It may have become a sovereign nation in 1867, but as far as the activists are concerned, it is still a colonial entity on "stolen land". Indigenous people are the "title holders" and the rest of us are mere "settlers". There is a deep dark secret past of black slavery. We Canadians are not the good guys. Privileged (white) people need to make amends.  

The fact that our youth are being indoctrinated into this stark and ahistorical viewpoint comes as a shock to the average citizen when I bring it to their attention. Most are disbelieving, or at least accuse me of exaggeration. I wish that were so.

This culture of oikophobia having been so entrenched, the school boards are in a quandary when it comes to Remembrance Day, which exists to extend a heartfelt thanks to the many Canadians who serve now, and served in the past, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice, to ensure that all of us can continue to live in a democracy where we enjoy rights and liberties and have a constitution and human rights codes to ensure that all are equal under the law, more or less (see below). The message is that we enjoy the good life here and our heroic soldiers have fought, and sometimes died, to protect it and extend it elsewhere in this troubled world. 

Clearly, there is a vast disconnect between the conception of Canada I just described and the one held by the Critical Theory activists. And that is the crux of the problem for the school boards with regard to Remembrance Day. Our military exists to protect the democratic ideals on which our society is based, but the CT activists don't agree with those ideals. 

They point to any measurable difference in socioeconomic outcomes between straight white people and any other identity group as evidence that the system here is broken. Unidentified "systemic barriers" prevent Indigenous and black people from reaching the same educational level and economic status as whites (no explanation why this does not prevent Asians from achieving even higher levels, though). Of course there are plenty of successful black and Indigenous Canadians enjoying all the advantages of inhabiting what has consistently been ranked one of the best countries in the world in which to live. But those successful “oppressed” people have too often learned that there is money to be made and status to be earned by shitting all over the very system that elevated them to one of the highest qualities of life ever seen by humanity. The irony.

CT advocates reject democracy, which they say suppresses the voices of the oppressed minorities. That is why a Halton Teachers Union gives more votes for racialized people on their council than whites. Fairness, for the CT crowd means handing out more resources to anyone in a "marginalised group" (no matter what their individual circumstances might be) which is why black and Indigenous students in Peel get automatic entry into coveted regional programs while others must take their chances with a lottery. And they reject individual rights entirely in favour of group identity, so don't bother to complain about those kinds of things if you're white.

An aside- When it comes to equality under the law, we Canadians mostly believe in it, but in fact do not have it. Under Article 15 subsection b, of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, identity-based discrimination is allowable against anyone who is not part of an "historically marginalised" group, meaning white people (especially males). We like to denigrate our American neighbours, but, say what you like about them, their constitution has no such language. 

So how do you celebrate our veterans without celebrating democracy, fairness, individual rights and liberties, and equality under the law, all of which our brave soldiers fought and died for but CT advocates oppose? 

School administrators don't want to seem ungrateful but they're having a hard time getting teachers to volunteer to organise Remembrance Day assemblies. That is because teachers are fearful of being seen as supporting "colonialism" or “white supremacy”, which CT activists claim all organs of power in this racist country do. For the same reason, it is very risky to do or say anything supportive of police forces, but it is perfectly acceptable to talk about dismantling them.

So it’s an awkward moment for the school boards, a bit like “mothers’ day” or “father’s day”, both of which “normalise the nuclear family” which is, according to the board, a bad thing. We all have to be absolutely equal in this utopia the CT activists are trying to create. That is why, upon return to school in September, it is frowned upon to talk about what you did over the summer. Went to the family cottage? Most people can’t afford cottages, so “check your privilege”. Don’t even talk about going to Canada’s Wonderland. Those passes cost!

Remembrance day will come and go so it is but a fleeting discomfort for the board and their CT overlords. But the indignity of suffering through a CT inspired “education” will last a lifetime for the students so unfortunate as to be stuck in it.

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Thanks for reading. For more from this author, read The Peel District School Board’s Director distributes a Cowardly Response to Palestinian Terror Attacks

Also, for more evidence of the ideological indoctrination in Canadian education, read Yes, schools are indoctrinating kids! And also, Yes, The University is an Indoctrination Camp!

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