COLUMN: Viewpoint – Hanover School Division is national news

I was surprised to open Saturday’s Globe and Mail and find an article about my hometown of Steinbach prominently featured. The story talked about Manitoba’s government ordering the Hanover School Division board to rescind an illegal motion they’d passed that would, as the Globe and Mail put it, “prevent students from getting counselling and medical services, including contraceptive prescriptions without their parents’ knowledge.” Globe and Mail interviews with organizations who support Manitoba’s LGBTQ youth said the motion could have a negative impact on young people looking for help in understanding their sexual orientation or gender identity. Education Minister Tracy Schmidt told the school trustees they had directly violated their constitutional and legal responsibilities by passing the motion.

In a letter to the minister, board chair Dallas Wiebe, said the motion was made in response to parental concerns. Interestingly, he gave no statistics to prove how many parents had expressed concerns. The Globe and Mail reported, however, that a parent made a presentation to the board about her opposition to the motion that included a petition signed by 1,000 Hanover residents. They were worried students wouldn’t receive appropriate care if professionals were no longer able to make judgement calls whether to notify parents about a teenager’s confidential disclosures. Had the board received a thousand expressions of concern from those who felt parents should be privy to all their child’s health information?

What bothered me about The Globe and Mail article was the way they described the Hanover School Division as a “Bible Belt” area of the province primarily populated by Mennonite farmers. This gives a very inaccurate description to the rest of the country. Firstly, while Hanover’s economy is known for agribusiness it has other diverse and thriving industries. Secondly, it implies farmers are closeminded and supported the school board’s major/minor motion. Knowing quite a number of farmers in Hanover, I’m sure their opinions on the value of the motion varied widely. Thirdly, it suggests Hanover residents are predominantly Mennonites. But a substantial number are Catholics, Lutherans, Muslims, Mormons, Pentecostals, and Baptists. A group of humanists and agnostics meet regularly in Steinbach. According to a recent census, 20 percent of residents have no religious affiliation. I found it interesting The Globe and Mail interviewed Ken Klassen, a former Hanover superintendent who called the motion the board passed “horrific”. Mr. Klassen and I were members of the same Mennonite church in Steinbach for many years. He’s a good example of the fact that not all Mennonites in the community hold the same views as the school trustees. To broadly characterize Hanover as a place filled with farmers who are of one religious bent is at best misleading.

The Globe and Mail reported Hanover school trustees had also recently passed motions to limit political activism in schools and to monitor “inappropriate” books and resources. That gives the audience of a national newspaper a picture of Steinbach and the surrounding area as being close-minded about positive change, and leery of the professional expertise of teachers and librarians. Having lived and worked in Hanover for most of my life I know so many residents who don’t fit that stereotype. A way to change that erroneous image would be to vote for trustees in the coming municipal elections with forward-thinking, legal ideas about education that are not primarily determined by their personal or religious ideology.

The Globe and Mail article says if trustees do not rescind their motion the education minister can disband the board and replace it with a government appointee who would operate the Hanover School Division. Is that the outcome most citizens want?