August 2024
Notice of The 519 Annual General Meeting 2024
July 2024
Call for Nominations – The 519 Annual General Meeting 2024
June 2024
Green Space Festival 2024: Accessibility
Neighbourhood Information: Green Space Festival 2024
May 2024
The 519 Pride Events Calendar 2024
April 2024
MEDIA ADVISORY: The 519 joins Rainbow Week of Action to march for LGBTQ+ refugee rights
November 2023
September 2023
The 519 Board of Management Candidates 2023/24
July 2023
Notice of Annual General Meeting 2023
Call for Nominations – The 519 Annual General Meeting 2023
May 2023
Pride 2023 at The 519: Upcoming Programs and Events
Green Space Festival 2023: Neighbourhood Information
March 2023
Trans Day of Visibility: How can we commit to being visible allies?
[Press Release] The 519 to Honour Esteemed Author John Irving with Ally Award
International Women's Day 2023: Women, Life, Freedom
February 2023
According to the announcement, consultations will be done via an online survey, regional telephone town halls, and are to be organized by interested community members who can than submit their “dedicated submissions packages”. These consultations methods severely lack opportunities for the direct, representative participation of youth, educators, parents, community organizations and health experts. This process does not provide any opportunity for meaningful, interactive, and critical discussions, and raises questions about the reliability of the consultation’s findings.
The implementation of a cynical tip line, where parents can report teachers and others teaching the 2015 curriculum is an unacceptable, divisive move to pressurize teachers into teaching out of date, harmful material. Not only does this tip line negate work already being done by local school boards and the Ontario College of Teachers, but it also leaves teachers open to unsubstantiated attacks on their professionalism and judgement. Our school communitieshave still not been provided proper clarification on what can and cannot be discussed in classrooms, and this announcement creates an environment of fear and uncertainty, making our children and youth unsafe and our education workers vulnerable to targeted discrimination.
These consultations are focused on hearing only the concerns of parents but the curriculum should be developed with consultation from experts and educators as well. The real focus should be on the safety and well-being of our children and youth. These consultations will impact the development of the curriculum, which directly impacts the lives and safety of Ontario students. The consultations are focused on the protection of the rights of parents, and do not take into account the safety and rights of children, youth, and LGBTQ2S families, or the input of health and education experts. All people have a right to be safe from homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, sexual assault, and physical abuse. This includes Ontario's children. The consultation framework does not consider those critical human rights in its design or intention.
There is an urgent need for us to find ways to keep our children and our communities safe, today and for the times to come. It is now that we must act to have the backs of Ontario’s children, youth, and educators. We ask you to join us at www.wehaveyourbackontario.org