Education minister blames 'activist teachers' for student trip to anti-Israel rally

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In the wake of the TDSB’s shocking “field trip” to a political protest last week, Ontario’s education minister blamed the situation on “activist teachers.”

And some public school instructors, added Jill Dunlop, have a history of promoting “inflammatory, discriminatory and hateful content.”

Claims that children were asked to wear blue to mark themselves as “settlers” were confirmed Monday, thanks to emails to parents obtained by TheToronto Sun.

In a statement to the Sun Monday afternoon, Dunlop said she expects the Toronto District School Board to conduct a “thorough” and “transparent” investigation into the ‘”field trip,” which shocked parents and prompted questions about teachers and their unions indoctrinating schoolchildren with far-left ideology.

“Our government firmly believes that publicly-funded schools and activities should never be used as vehicles for political protests,” Dunlop said. 

“This principle was clearly violated last week when several activist teachers took groups of young children, on a TDSB-sanctioned field trip, to a demonstration.”

Originally pitched to parents as an opportunity to “observe” a protest supporting Grassy Narrows First Nation and their decades-old mercury contamination crisis, the protest swiftly turned into an anti-Israel rally, with organizers and teachers leading participants — including children  — in hateful anti-Israel chants.

Despite claims by acting TDSB board chair Neethan Shan that students would only observe, emails from teachers at ALPHA Alternative Junior School clearly stated students as young as eight would attend to “stand in solidarity” with Grassy Narrows. 

The action, Dunlop said, violated the trust of parents and put students into potential jeopardy, as anti-Israel activists, emboldened by Hamas’ brutal terror attack against Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, often — and sometimes violently — usurp protests for their own purposes.

“Some teachers, along with others associated with this protest, have a history of promoting inflammatory, discriminatory, and hateful content,” Dunlop wrote.

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“There is no place for this type of teaching in our classrooms.”

Indeed, numerous TDSB teachers and union members vehemently defended the “field trip” on social media, denying claims that students were asked to wear blue shirts to mark them as “settlers.”

While apologists claim the request to wear blue was related to clean drinking water, an email from a teacher at East York’s Westwood Middle school proved those assertions incorrect.

“For any Indigenous participants, they are invited to wear their regalia,” the teacher wrote in the Sept. 17 email, one day before the protest.

“Settlers are asked to wear blue, if possible.”

That corroborates independent claims by parents and family members who spoke with the Sun last week.

Meanwhile, Nigel Barriffe, vice-president of the Elementary Teachers of Toronto, accused the TDSB of “kowtowing” to Jewish groups, accusing the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre of Holocaust Studies of “spying on children” and “spreading misinformation.”

“Apologizing for a field trip is anti-Palestinian racism in action,” said Barriffe, who made no mention of Grassy Narrows or their water crisis in his post.

“Stand up for justice, not buckle down for pressure.”

Spadina-Fort York MP Kevin Vuong pointed out the conspicuous silence of the Ontario NDP in the matter.

“Why don’t they care about parents being lied to or children being put at risk?” he told the Sun.

“I’ve been criticized for giving a voice to the parents in my community who feel abandoned by their MPP, but I refuse to leave parents hanging. Where are the NDP? Their silence has been deafening, and parents deserve to know why.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume