Protestors in Surrey have made a complaint to the RCMP accusing Education Minister Rachna Singh of violating the Criminal Code by having sexually explicit materials accessible to children in school libraries. According to an interview with The Epoch Times, Amrit Birring stated that the complaint was filed on January 27th and is related to books titled “It’s Perfectly Normal” and “Gender Queer,” which contain explicit illustrations. Birring indicated that he provided sample pictures from the books and a letter from a school board in response to their email, acknowledging that these books are available in elementary and secondary school libraries.
Birring pointed out that schools in British Columbia are controlled by their respective school boards, which are governed by the Ministry of Education. Therefore, Education Minister Rachna Singh is responsible for ensuring that “sexually explicit materials” are accessible to children, which is a punishable crime that carries a mandatory jail sentence as per the Criminal Code. He cited section 171.1 of the Criminal Code, which defines explicit material as “written material whose dominant characteristic is the description, for a sexual purpose, of explicit sexual activity with a person.”
Efforts by The Epoch Times to contact Surrey RCMP and Minister Singh were unsuccessful. The complaint comes after months of ongoing protests in Surrey and Abbotsford against SOGI 123, a teaching resource used in B.C. schools that covers gender and sexual identity.
At the end of 2023, a group in Abbotsford protested 24 hours a day for seven consecutive days, calling on the government to remove SOGI 123 materials from schools. Similar protests also forced an Abbotsford school board to cancel a meeting. Moreover, a Conservative MLA questioned why a book he deemed inappropriate for the provincial legislature was allowed in schools. During a sitting on October 4, 2023, the MLA attempted to read explicit sentences from the book “Eleanor & Park” to question the content, but was chastised by the Speaker.
Overall, the protestors are seeking accountability for the sexually explicit materials available in school libraries and are speaking out against the content that is accessible to children.