Mountain View School Division has apologized after a community group handed out condoms and a graphic sex guide to students at a school event near Dauphin, Manitoba. The incident took place at a graduation powwow on May 21 at Selo Ukraina, where kids from kindergarten through Grade 12 were present. Parents say their children came home upset and holding materials they were too young to understand.
The Sexuality Education Resource Centre had a display table at the event. The division says it never reviewed what the group planned to bring and calls it a failure in its screening process. A public apology was issued May 26, stating: “We sincerely apologize to the families who were directly and indirectly affected by what occurred at last week’s event. We understand your concerns and regret that this situation happened.”
Superintendent Suzanne Cottyn said the division is now tightening rules for outside groups and materials at school events. SERC will not be invited back. Cottyn, who took over the division during earlier turmoil, added: “We will be talking about … next steps that we can take as a division to earn back the trust that we know that many of you have felt has been broken through this situation.”
SERC program co-ordinator Kaitlyn White said staff did not hand materials directly to children and that the items were meant for adults. She suggested kids might have grabbed them from the table during lunch when it was unattended. But parent Crystal Homeniuk said her eight-year-old son was offered condoms and came home “really upset … [and] distressed.” Another parent, Malina McCann, said her boys, aged 10 and 12, had questions they weren’t ready for. “Children are asking questions, and us parents, we’ve got to explain to them … when they’re not ready for the big talk,” McCann said.
The division’s apology also acknowledged the incident was particularly inappropriate at a powwow, an Indigenous cultural celebration. “We sincerely apologize to all families and to our Indigenous communities,” the statement read. The controversy adds to ongoing tensions in the division, which has faced governance problems since 2024 when a trustee gave a presentation widely condemned as racist, leading to multiple resignations and provincial oversight.
