Cody Hamilton said Saskatchewan Education Minister Dustin DuncanThe reaction enraged him.
Hamilton, an alumnus run by a church and funded by the government qualified independent school (QIS was in the provincial legislature to voice its concerns.
Standing next to Saskatchewan NDP education critic Matt Love, Hamilton said Duncan hasn’t done enough to prevent other people from going through the same thing he said.
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“These schools shouldn’t be able to run the way they are,” Hamilton said.
hamilton attended Prairie Christian Academy (PCA). As Global News first reportedHamilton alleged that a man he believed was the principal called Hamilton to his office to tell him that being gay was wrong.
Hamilton, who is gay, said it happened in the fall of 2013 — during the same school year that the provincial government gave PCA more than $200,000 in funding.
During Thursday’s Question Hour, Love repeatedly asked Duncan whether the government would improve oversight over PCA and similar schools.
“The failed leadership of the Sask Party government and their choice to look the other way is hurting students, including students like Cody Hamilton,” Love said.
“Why, after hearing story after story,” Love said, referring to allegations from students of another school run by the church (before it received government funding), “is this minister of education coming up with a solution to keep our children safe? Instead of scrambling to find excuses?”
After welcoming Hamilton to the session, Duncan reiterated what he had said earlier – that prior to 2012, independent schools were not regulated or funded.
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Duncan then referred to regulation changes made by the government last August. A statement at the time said the province would increase the number of unscheduled visits to all independent schools during the 2022-23 school year.
“We are currently working with all of our eligible independent schools,” he said, “to see if more needs to be done to increase the amount of inspections.”
In response to a previous question from Love, the minister said the government “supports the ability of parents in this province to be able to educate their children.”
Hamilton later said, “He keeps talking about the choice of parents to go to these schools.”
“But from my experience, that school and church was a cult.”
Global News first reached out to the PCA and Faith Alive Family Church, which runs it.
A statement from Faith Alive Ministries states that they are a “Christian, faith-based school established by law and under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to teach our students the love of God from a theological, anthropological, and ethical perspective.” Especially we receive faithfully hold the Bible as truth.
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Hamilton said more oversight would make no difference.
“You can’t approach it like that,” he told reporters, “we would inspect every once in a while,” because we would be on our best behavior when we knew inspectors were coming.
“I don’t remember (inspectors) ever asking us questions.”
He said that he did not feel comfortable telling an inspector about his sexuality.
Global News asked for an interview with Duncan.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Education said the government is committed to ensuring that all students feel safe, protected and respected in our schools and communities.
“The Government of Saskatchewan believes in protecting the safety and rights of all students. This includes supporting gender and sexually diverse youth to ensure they feel safe, included and respected in schools. It is against the law to discriminate because of sexual orientation or gender identity in Saskatchewan,” Chelsea Balaski wrote in an email.
,Education Act,, The statement said, provides for independent schools and parents and guardians “to educate their children in accordance with their sincere beliefs, which may include faith-based education, and to separate them from a public or segregated school.” may grant a valid exemption.”
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