The Purpose of Schools

Education fulfils two grand purposes in any prosperous, stable country:

1. Give kids the knowledge they need to contribute to society down the line.

2. Develop the social skills of kids so they flourish as part of society.

In Canada, education is a provincial decision. The federal government does not control it, but the Future Party has a gold standard that it publicly supports.

The first point is achieved by teaching kids a wide variety of topics that increase in complexity over time. The goal is that by the time they graduate highschool they would have gained a strong foundation in different areas and have been directed to careers that best suit their natural strengths and desired goals. There is no controversy here, the benefits of educating the next generation are self-evident.

The key to teaching kids valuable skills is to balance challenging them to work harder without destroying their mental wellbeing.

The second point is achieved by instilling the values society and parents hold most deeply into children at a young age, and by developing their social skills . Getting this part wrong causes serious damage to the kids wellbeing and threatens the stability of society as a whole. Today this is the part that generates the most controversy.

Main Positions

Like the rest of our platform we believe that the biggest issue facing Canada's education system are its stagnation over the past 20 years. The general goals we would support are found below. As education is fully provincially controlled, this is not a policy priority in our first mandate. We only want to put our positions out there to avoid looking like we are dodging questions.

General Goals

1. Slightly compress current primary through secondary curriculums

2. Replace last 2 years of highscool with either apprenticeships, or more intense university level courses, based on student aptitude

3. Empower teacher's ability to discipline misbehaving students

4. Weaken admin powers

5. Promote the value of careers in trades

Additional Goals

1. Improve maths skills at younger ages

   • Especially fractions and algebra

2. Streamline university programs like medicine into a predictable path

   • 3 years of medically focused education

   • At the end of 3rd year, students do MCAT

   • Those who make the cut continue on to do med school

   • Those who don't make the cut get to choose

     • A medicine related path that doesn't require med school

       • Pharmaceutical

       • Biomed research

       • Physiotherapy/kinestholgy

       • Counseling/Therapy

     • Try the test again in 6 months/a year if they want

   • See if that can apply to law and others like it

Cultural Stances

Any, and all, of our stances hold these cultural freedoms at heart. Please check them to get a better picture.

Parental rights of both culturally progressive AND culturally conservative parents can coexist.

Currently, the most divisive cultural issue relates to teaching LGBTQ+ related topics. Below is our summarized position on what we are confident is the best solution to promote tolerance and open dialogue. The age ranges are not set in stone but this is a rough idea:

1. Ages under 10: Prebuscent children have not reached a stage to comprehend sexually related topics. We are against exposing kids to any sexual themes whether heterosexual or otherwise. They might actually be harmed by getting exposed to adult themes too early. At this stage, teaching kids that people can look and act different but as long as they treat us well we should treat them well is much, much, more important.

2. Ages 10 - 14: Around this age, children start puberty, a period of rapid change that often leads to much confusion. At this stage focusing on the biological aspect of puberty, sex, and reproduction is more important to a kid's development. This should include topics related to safe sex and STDs (including abstinence).

3. Ages above 14: From here on out, LGBTQ+ topics can be introduced. The main goal here should be to introduce the fact that LGBTQ+ people exist, and deserve to be treated with the same level of respect any other group deserves. A space should also be given to respectful voices that argue such feelings should be resisted. Schools should teach tolerance and mutual-respect, regardless of whether we as individuals approve of each other's values. For more check our page on trans issues, we are more thorough there.