The Saskatchewan government suspends scheduled parenting presentations in schools

Saskatchewan’s education minister has suspended Planned Parenthood from giving presentations in classrooms after the organization brought “inappropriate” sexual material to a high school.

Dustin Duncan said Thursday that the material, a pamphlet, was recently obtained by a 9th grade student at the school in Lumsden, north of Regina.

It contained graphic, sexual words that began with every letter of the alphabet.

Planned Parenthood did not present the pamphlet in class, and the student retrieved it from a side table.

“It’s just completely inappropriate to be in class, and so that’s the basis for today’s guideline,” Duncan said.

The minister read some of the contents of the pamphlet to reporters, but not all of it.

“I’m sorry I honestly don’t feel appropriate to say that. But I think it makes you feel like if I’m not comfortable saying that to the media…then I think it’s pretty much, certainly to me, an indication that it’s probably not in the classroom need to be.

Julian Wotherspoon, executive director of Planned Parenthood Regina, said the organization does not normally bring such materials into a classroom.

She said the pamphlet, which was produced by a third party, was accidentally mixed with other pamphlets on the table in the Lumsden school. They are usually given to a more mature audience.

“They’re a reputable source for material that’s engaging, informative, sex-positive and stigma-reducing, so we have a lot of their stuff around,” she said of the group that created the pamphlet.

Wotherspoon said that while she understands the suspension, she is also disappointed.

“It’s a little disturbing that this decision was made so quickly and without consulting us to determine that this source was not part of what we were learning,” she said. “We hope they will follow at some point with us.”

Duncan said it’s possible that Planned Parenthood will be allowed to present in schools again once the ministry completes a review.

He said the review, which is due to be completed in September, would look at sex education materials across all school departments to make sure it’s all appropriate.

Duncan added that he also wants parents to be informed when their children learn about sex.

Wotherspoon said Planned Parenthood discussed contraceptives, sexually transmitted diseases and sexual consent during its school presentations with students while a teacher was present in the classroom.

“We believe people of all ages have a right to that information about their sexual health,” she said.