And they now expect and demand results. Thus the Ford government announced very quickly that schools would return to a curriculum that was more than 20 years old, much to the delight of social conservatives. But it then promptly announced that some changes would be allowed and is now in a process of political obfuscation. Senior cabinet ministers such as Christine Elliott and Caroline Mulroney have publicly supported the new curriculum.
Many others in government are indifferent, and very few want it reversed. Charles McVety , perhaps the most vociferous opponent of the curriculum, was effectively banned from Sun News for being too extreme and even a caricature.
We know why the Christian right is opposed. First, at heart, they are convinced that it is parents and not schools who should teach their children about sex, even if those parents will never actually do so. Second, while they will deny this publicly, they are opposed to any acceptance of homosexuality as being normal and decided at birth, and consider LGBTQ relationships to be sinful.
Third, they regard public education as an organ of the state, and increasingly view that state as an enemy of their faith and their freedom. Fourth, they regard sex as a means for procreation, and not pleasurable or even meaningful in itself. They are convinced that if children are taught about sex and consent, they will become sexually active or even promiscuous, and because in their theology, sex may only take place within marriage, this terrifies them. It is precisely these people, organized and energized by the likes of McVety and former leadership candidate Tanya Granic Allen, who gave Ford enough votes to defeat the socially liberal Elliott.
And unlike Kathleen Wynne — a committed and active member of the United Church — Ford is not religious. Those who know him speak of someone who, while not fully comfortable in the gay community and viscerally conservative on many social issues, is largely ambivalent when it comes to moral and sexual politics.
