Audience member calls the messaging ‘quite alarming’

Heather Wright/The Independent

A candidate for the Lambton-Kent public school board says she will “stand strong against the progressive heists of the Canadian education system” including returning to the “history we all grew up with” so students can be proud to be Canadian.

Cynthia Workman’s words raised some eyebrows at the Brooke-Alvinston All-Candidates Night Oct. 7, with some calling the words racist. Workman, who has run for political office before for the People Party of Canada and the Ontario Party, is facing incumbent Greg Agar. Both were at the debate organized by the Alvinston Optimists.

While most of the questions were directed to the municipal politicians, Workman told the crowd in response to
a question about “the British connection to Canadian language and history” coming back to the classroom, she believes Canadian history has been “watered down.”

“I think it’s been manipulated, and I think that we have to get back to the true history of Canada – the good, the bad, and the ugly – But we can’t erase and not be proud.

“We may not have had the best history, but we certainly haven’t had the worst. And so I’m proud to be Canadian. I’m proud to advocate that true history that I grew up with should be brought back,” Workman said.

She also vowed to stand for “conservative values that focus on education not indoctrination …I will stand strong against the progressive heists of the Canadian education system.”

Workman added she’ll lobby for curriculum that will “and teach the foundational Canadian values on which Canada was built and flourished.

“I will also advocate for curriculum to be purged of the social engineering that aims to create divisiveness and transform the nature of reality and boundaries of biology.”

Alvinston resident and the principal of the Kettle and Stony First Nation elementary school said Workman’s desire to return to “the history we all grew up with” was “quite alarming.”

Bob Bressette is concerned about the comments, which defend Canada’s colonial past which led to the residential school system.

“It just was very concerning that people think we need to go back to that without seeing how Canada actually came to be,” said Bressette after the meeting. He believes the Canadian education has made some steps to teaching the truth about the nations’ treatment of First Nations but “there’s a lot more to be to be learned out there.”

And Bressette pushed back against the idea that teaching students what happened makes them less patriotic.

“I’m Indigenous. I’m Canadian. I live in Canada, and I’m very proud of what this nation has done to progress throughout the world…Our contributions towards you know the First and Second World Wars, going into Korea… those are some pretty big things, and along the way, some Indigenous people helped out along the way.”

The principal was also concerned a candidate for trustee would use words like ‘social engineering’ referring to teaching
about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and Two Spirited people.

“It’s a public school board, and all members of the public come from all different walks of life, and you know we need to embrace and just treat each other how we want to be treated ourselves.

“Every organized religion or culture – they all have something similar to, say, the 10 Commandments, or as I say, the Seven Grandfather teachings. We want to honour those because that’s part of who we are… that’s even what the makeup of Canada is, right? We we are good, decent people with some who need some reminding along the way of who we actually are.”