Doug Ford requests investigation into ‘inappropriate’ student field trip featuring ‘Palestinian demonstration’

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is urging the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) to promptly investigate a field trip where students attended a rally where pro-Palestinian slogans were chanted.

The province’s largest school board has faced criticism after students participating in an event supporting the Grassy Narrows First Nation were prompted to chant “From Turtle Island to Palestine, occupation is a crime.”

“You’re trying to indoctrinate our kids. They should be in the classroom learning about reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, the whole shebang,” Ford expressed. “But instead, the TDSB and these teachers want to bring them down to a rally, a Palestinian rally, and it’s ridiculous.”

The field trip on Sept. 18 was supposed to be an “educational experience,” where students would listen to the indigenous people of Grassy Narrows discuss how their community was affected by mercury poisoning, according to a statement from the school board on Sept. 20.

“We’re going to try that one more time,” a woman stated when the children didn’t repeat the slogan loudly. “You guys are just going to repeat after me.”

“From Turtle Island to Palestine,” she shouted, echoed by the students. “From Turtle Island to Palestine. Occupation is a crime. Occupation is a crime.”

“No justice, no racists,” she yelled, to which the crowd responded “no peace.”

“Big round of applause for yourselves,” she commended, receiving claps and cheers. It’s unknown if the woman speaking was an organizer for the rally or linked to any of the schools.

The Epoch Times reached out to the school board for comment on the investigation into the incident but didn’t receive a response before publication.

Province ‘All Over This’

The premier assured that the province would ensure accountability for those responsible for taking students to the rally.

“I’ve been saying this about indoctrination for years. And I don’t want to generalize about all teachers because it’s not all teachers, it’s a minority of teachers,” he remarked.

“They [need to] think twice about taking young, little kids on these school trips without parental permission. It’s disgraceful.”

Education Minister Jill Dunlop also shared her disappointment regarding the incident before the premier’s comments this week.

The school board didn’t specify how many schools or students attended the rally but issued an apology to parents, acknowledging that students shouldn’t have been involved in organized protests during a field trip.

“We apologize for any harm that some students may have experienced as a result,” Acting Director of Education Louise Sirisko mentioned in a statement. “We consider these concerns seriously and will prioritize our investigation into the matter.”

Sirisko pledged that the board would take “appropriate action” if school board policies, procedures, or professional standards weren’t followed. She mentioned that these actions could involve discipline and adjustments to the field trip processes.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) initiated a petition requesting the Toronto school board to remove geopolitics from its schools.

“While we all support the rights of all groups to peacefully protest their cause, educators, schools, and school boards must shield students from exposure to toxic ideologies intended to incite hate.”

The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center also criticized the field trip and demanded that the Toronto District School Board hold its staff accountable.

“Students were brought to an anti-Israel demonstration during a field trip,” the organization shared in a social media post. “We are appalled by this blatant breach of parental trust and the harm inflicted on students.”