Gender, race, parental rights at heart of some Manitoba school trustee candidates' election campaigns

Gender, race, parental rights at heart of some Manitoba school trustee candidates' election campaigns

Social issues, religion loom large in Hanover School Division

An AI-generated image that shows a school trustee protecting children from provincial politicians with a shield that says "Faith, Family, Community" is causing a stir in the Hanover School Division.

The artificial intelligence image was first posted by Concerned Citizens of Canada and was shared on the Facebook re-election page of Shayne Barkman, who's running in Ward 2, north of Steinbach, Man., in the Oct. 28 election.

The shield in the AI image has a cross on it, with children huddled behind the shield and a cement block that says "Safety Parental Rights Transparency."

Education Minister Tracy Schmidt is shown attached to puppet strings held by Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara — who is non-binary — and a person wearing a Manitoba Teachers' Society T-shirt.

A sign behind them says "Manitoba Health (Trans Agenda)."

Manitoba Teachers' Society president Lillian Klausen said MTS sent a cease and desist letter, and Barkman has since taken down the post. It is still up on the Concerned Citizens Canada Facebook page.

"My agenda is for the health and safety of kids. That is our agenda, and to make sure that our teachers are supported in a way that they can provide that for students. So, yeah, we're not indoctrinating," Klausen said.

Barkman, Concerned Citizens Canada and Hanover school board chair Dallas Wiebe did not respond to requests for comment.

The social media post is the latest in a string of policies, surveys and social media posts on cultural and societal topics by the current Hanover school board.

The board has implemented and proposed policies that have trustees directly interview prospective music and phys-ed teachers, that limit educational materials for teachers, that warn health teachers they will face discipline for bringing up sexual desire and that require students to get administrative approval for advocacy in schools.

The Hanover board also issued a staff directive to ignore Manitoba law that says people age 16 and older can make their own health-care decisions, but Schmidt ordered them to rescind it, which they did on Sept. 1.

"[Students] of that age, who really sometimes are struggling with mental health concerns, struggling with identity, [teachers] see what it is to be in situations that they need help to kind of navigate through. And they're looking for trusted adults to do that. And so their teachers, their guidance counsellors, the people that work with them to support them are those trusted people," Klausen said.

Ken Klassen, a retired Hanover School Division superintendent and former executive director of the Manitoba Association of School Superintendents, said he's never seen such a religion-based focus on social issues by the school board, even though the area is known for its conservative, Christian values.

He grew up and went to school in Steinbach, which is in Hanover School Division, before becoming a teacher and principal in the southern Manitoba division.

A number of the trustees who support contentious ideas were acclaimed in uncontested elections in 2022, including board chair Dallas Wiebe and vice-chair Jeff Friesen, he said.

Klassen wants more than the current 25 signatures to be required for becoming a school trustee nominee.

The current rule does not make sense for a school division with over 9,000 students, he said.

"You can go to your cell group in your church, or you go to the coffee shop or the hockey rink, you can have 25 signatures in five minutes," Klassen said.

"I think this leads to a lot of acclamation where people don't have to tell anybody what they stand for and think before they become a trustee."

Current Hanover trustee and Steinbach city council candidate Brad Unger sent a survey to trustee candidates that included questions like, "I believe that sex and gender are the same thing and that there are only two. What do you believe?" and "I believe that a child should never be made to feel guilty for being white. What do you believe?"

Unger declined to comment on any school board or city council issues for this story.

Sarah Wieler decided to run for the school board after watching social issues dominate discussions.

She answered Unger's survey, but said she prefers to focus her campaign on education issues.

"One of the disappointing things … is that the conversation around the school board has shifted away from education, student success, where we're choosing to spend our budget, and more about these identity politics," Wieler said.

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Klassen said he still has a strong belief in local school boards.

"I believe that a community that has a strong and effective public school board will be a strong community. [It] will attract people to the community, people who want to live here and send their kids to our schools," he said.

Election day for most Manitoba municipalities and school boards is Oct. 28.

Gender, parental rights among issues in Manitoba school board election

Christopher Gareau is a CBC Manitoba reporter based in Steinbach who covers the province's southeastern region. He has previously covered southeastern Manitoba in print, and worked in radio and print in northwestern B.C. and southwestern Ontario. You can reach him at christopher.gareau@cbc.ca.