Doug Ford says PCs planning largest-ever consultation on sex-ed

Doug Ford says his government's consultations on a new sex-ed curriculum will be the largest in the history of Ontario education.

The recently elected premier is scrapping the modernized version of the curriculum brought in by his Liberal predecessors and reverting to one introduced in 1998 while consultations are carried out for a new document.

Ford says the consultation efforts will mean visiting all 124 electoral ridings across Ontario to compile parental feedback.

His Progressive Conservative government also said today that social conservatives who objected to the modernized curriculum would not have any role in drafting the new version of the document.

Ford repeatedly promised during the spring election campaign to repeal and replace the lesson plan created by the previous Liberal government in 2015, saying not enough parents were consulted.

The Tories have sent mixed messages on sex-ed this week, with the education minister saying Monday that concepts like gender identity, consent and cyber safety would still be taught in the fall before backtracking on her comments.