Parents are done with schools pushing progressive agendas instead of teaching core academics

Pride advocates recently pushed to have their flag flown at Dufferin-Peel Catholic schools in Ontario. They even asked the education minister to overrule the school board and make it happen. He didn’t, and that’s a good thing.

He respected that it was the board’s role to decide what flags flew at its schools, what Catholic schools could tolerate or endorse, and what they could not.

For centuries, conquerors claimed land by planting their flag upon it. In recent decades, homosexual and trans activists have wanted rainbow flags to fly in schools to add legitimacy and even endorsement of their causes. The new frontiers of advocacy extend to autonomy for six-year-olds to pursue gender expressions and names that don’t match their sex, and to disempowering parents to know it is happening or to prevent any forays by children in this direction.

This makes the flying of a Pride flag at Dufferin-Peel Catholic schools no small clash of values. The school board serves over 70,000 students across more than 150 schools in Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon, Orangeville and Dufferin County in southern Ontario. How this became a hot-button issue in the area requires a bit of recent history.

In 2012, the Ontario Liberal government mandated that all schools facilitate gay-straight alliance clubs if a student requested one. Catholic schools often managed to restrict the visibility, names and activities of such clubs to conform with Catholic doctrine on sexuality and marriage. Nevertheless, these alliances are a natural conduit for activism, practices and advocacy that run against the Catholic grain.

And so it was in 2023 that students at Catholic schools in Dufferin-Peel began petition drives urging the school board to allow Pride flags. In June 2024, trustees voted against allowing any causes’ flags to fly outside schools. In January 2025, the board tightened the policy to restrict flags inside schools as well. The board only allows national, provincial and board flags, with limited scope for exceptions, and even then only with the approval of the Director of Education.

Another twist came in June 2025. The board had accumulated a large debt, driven by long-term disability claims, declining enrolment and prior spending. An independent investigation recommended intervention. In response, the government appointed Rick Byers, a former MPP and chartered accountant, as supervisor. While this gave him authority over most operational and financial decisions, decisions on matters pertaining to religion remained with the board.

This gave Brea Corbett, an elected trustee, another chance to try planting the Pride flags on Catholic soil. Corbett led motions in 2024 and 2025 to have that happen, then tried again earlier this year.

Trustees held a special meeting on May 26, 2026, to consider her motion. Despite hearing delegations from both sides of the argument, the motion died because no one would second it. Once again, the board declined to change its position.

Last fall, Education Minister Paul Calandra directed the board to change its flag policy to allow orange flags to fly on the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. This intervention could be questioned as too intrusive and as bringing in political overtones that the board made a clear intention to avoid. On the other hand, the day is also a federal statutory observance.

Either way, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association asked Calandra to use his provincial supervision powers again and direct the board to fly the Pride flag. Calandra refused, saying he could make the directive on Every Child Matters flags because they relate to awareness of residential schools and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation rather than a denominational matter. He also explained that under the Constitution and the Education Act, he could not intervene on a Pride flag at Catholic schools.

The minister told CBC that he’d like to see the Pride flag fly, but he would not force the board to do so. “They said it’s a denominational issue, so they’ll have to make that decision,” Calandra said.

That was the right call, one that respects the separation of church and state and aligns with Calandra’s recent efforts to tone down politics at school. In March, he sent a memo to all Ontario school boards to remind them that graduation ceremonies must remain “strictly student-centred, apolitical, inclusive, and respectful.” He wrote that they were no place to express political views, promote personal or institutional positions, or engage in divisive or contentious issues of any kind.

This makes good sense. Canadian parents care more about their children’s academic learning than about having schools immerse them in progressive politics. A flag policy that keeps schools focused on education and respect for our democratic governments serves everyone well. So does keeping Catholic education Catholic, for those who want that. It’s refreshing to see a government acknowledge proper boundaries.

Lee Harding is a research fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. He holds a Master of Public Policy (U of C) and a BA in Journalism, with a career spanning major networks like CBC and Global TV, as well as landmark published research on Canadian economic and social policy.