SLOBODIAN: In Quebec, parents furious as teachers suspended amid charges of brainwashing kids

A firestorm has erupted over revelations that “Islamic religious concepts” have been abusively forced on elementary students at Montreal’s Bedford public school since 2016.And a threatened Quebec politician who spoke out on behalf of students and against the school’s tense and toxic environment said she’s on “high alert” and requested extra protection for her and her family.It gets worse. Concerns have now expanded beyond Bedford. Three more schools are being monitored in the provincially run Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM,) overseeing many Montreal French public schools. Two of them are in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood where Bedford is located.Eleven Bedford Muslim teachers — predominantly members of the North African Maghrebi clan — were suspended, along with their licenses.A committee determined that the students’ physical, psychological, and emotional well-being was jeopardized.The teachers are accused of screaming at students, treating boys and girls differently (for example, gender discrimination against girls not allowed to play soccer,) and inflicting humiliating punishment on children with learning disabilities who were called “lazy.” These students were deprived of help because resource staff were barred from classrooms.If this isn’t gross incompetence and psychological abuse bordering on criminal being inflicted on helpless little ones, what is?“Some of them even went as far as hindering surveillance of their classrooms by covering call door windows or interior windows in classrooms that have them,” stated a recent damning 90-page Quebec Education Ministry report.That stunning, ominous revelation should greatly alarm parents who must demand to know every detail of what went on in those classrooms that teachers figured had to be hidden from view..Quebec Premier Francois Legault said on X the suspended teachers were trying to “introduce Islamic religious concepts in a public school.” He wrote, “In Quebec, we decided a long time ago to get religion out of public schools. We will never go back.” .Legault vowed to reinforce secularism rules in public schools that have been violated, according to Bill 21. The government is exploring whether secularism policies must be modified or more strongly enforced.Parti Québécois (PQ) Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said existing laws and Bill 21 aren’t strong enough to keep religion out of schools.The heavily redacted report said members of a mosque exerted a “strong influence” on Bedford school staff. This was confirmed by Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville.“Members of a mosque intervened on occasion to ensure the conformity of the school model with a cultural model defended by the community which included the mosque,” Drainville told media.“The report described the group of problematic teachers as being of North African descent, some of whom attended the mosque together.” Imagine the teeth-gnashing uproar that would erupt if a Catholic bishop, Jewish rabbi, or evangelical pastor tried to exert any pressure on school staff.The report said some teachers of North African descent and non-Muslim staff opposed the behaviour and tensions flared between them and the “dominant” and intimidating clan members. Staff turnover was high. Arguments and raucous staff meetings prevailed.Predictably, Montreal Muslim leaders assumed the victimhood posture and lashed out at politicians, accusing them of weaponizing secularism against mainly cultural communities practicing Islam, according to the CBC.“It's quite troubling to see that the government jumps at every small opportunity to find blame, to blame the Muslim community in some way or another,” said Farida Mohamed, co-president of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women’s Montreal chapter.Yup, there’s that the old Islamophobia cry to avoid accountability.Nope, nothing about elementary school girls not being allowed to play soccer just because they are girls. That contemptible misogyny fits with accepted centuries-old cultures in faraway places, but it’s not the way girls are to be treated in Canada.No concerns from her about the treatment of students with learning disabilities. According to the report, some teachers denied the existence of autism and learning disabilities and therefore decided excessive discipline was needed to “break” students to get them “on the right path.”The report said some students were humiliated and told they were a “lost cause” in front of classmates. Ears or shirt sleeves were pulled, and one teacher allegedly pushed a student to the floor. But the report concluded students weren’t in “pressing danger.”How far did students get behind in learning because of a refusal to teach, or sparingly teaching, science classes? And that begs a question. What were the children taught instead to fill up classroom time?And how did this go on for years without action from CSSDM officials?Quebec radio 98.5 FM — that apparently spoke with 18 people connected to Bedford — has been diligently reporting on this since last May In fact, that’s what sparked the Education Ministry’s report that confirmed many of the claims reported by the radio station.The government investigation, including 73 interviews, was conducted from November 2023 to April 2024.The teacher’s suspensions only happened after the report was made public.But Liberal MNA Marwah Rizqy accused CSSDM executive director Isabelle Gélinas of “wilful blindness” considering that a 2021 report highlighted these problems in a school mistreating children while festering with tension between staff members.Rizqy demanded Gélinas step down.The Quebec politician requested police protection on Tuesday because she fears for her safety and that of her family and is “in a state of high alert.”On Monday controversial activist imam Adil Charkaoui accused her of being a “token Moroccan” who exaggerated what went on at Bedford, even though the report concluded otherwise.“The remarks made yesterday by a religious preacher were degrading and threatening toward a member of the National Assembly,” Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon told a press conference.Several politicians backed her request for protection. Meanwhile, the report highlighted a “worrisome” level of teacher competence, concern that certain teachers resist monitoring; and concluded the CSSDM isn’t in control.Government employees sent to monitor Bedford are expected to produce an action plan be November’s end.Meanwhile, the day after the 11 licences were suspended another investigation at another school was opened based on another report by 98.5 FM.Parents fearing their 11-year-old son would be indoctrinated into the Muslim faith by an Alphonse-Pesant school in St-Léonard teacher, pulled him from the school.They also said they feared for his safety.The principal had told them there was nothing he could do. They complained to the school service centre and were simply told to change schools.Sadly, what is going on in Montreal is just another example of overreach by teachers inflicting ideologies — sexual, religious, or otherwise — on students against parental wishes. When school officials negligently refuse to protect students and reign these radicals in, government intervention is necessary.This should be a wakeup call to all parents to pay attention to how their children are educated (indoctrinated?) and treated behind closed classroom doors.

SLOBODIAN: In Quebec, parents furious as teachers suspended amid charges of brainwashing kids

Related Stories