Prince George city council approved a resolution Monday to advocate for mandatory Holocaust education in B.C.
It will now submit the resolution for consideration at the 2024 North Central Local Government Association Convention to be held in May 2024.
“That Prince George Council recognize the dangers of Holocaust denial and distortion which so often targets our young people,” states the recommendation.
“That this Council, through NCLGA, urge the Ministry of Education and Child Care to introduce mandatory Holocaust education to British Columbia’s elementary schools as of the 2024- 2025 academic year.”
Council will also forward the resolution to School District No. 57 (SD57) for their information and consideration to support through their organization.
This was discussed at the Nov. 6 Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs meeting, where the committee discussed an interest in acting on the troubling rise of antisemitic sentiment.
It was noted that a Statistics Canada study released in July on police-reported crime in Canada indicated that there were 750 police reported hate crimes targeting religious minorities during 2022, of which 502 or 66.9 per cent were aimed at the Jewish community.
“The basis of this came just prior to B.C. approving mandatory Holocaust education at the high school level. It is recommended that age-appropriate education begin at the elementary school level. That is where we began and that is where Ontario has gone and other jurisdictions,” said Coun. Garth Frizell.
City council amended the recommendation to include that this information should be shared with private schools in the city as well as SD57 and it was then approved unanimously.
Premier David Eby made the announcement back on Oct. 30, that B.C. government committed to make Holocaust education mandatory for high school students.
While many students learn about the Holocaust, the provincial government said there is more work to do to ensure all students graduate with an understanding about this topic and said the government is committed to broadening the scope of the required Grade 10 social studies curriculum.
This will ensure that when learning about discriminatory policies and injustices in Canada and around the world, all students in B.C. will also learn about the Holocaust.
The changes will take effect in the 2025-26 school year to allow for consultation and development with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, the Jewish community and education partners.
