In an example in my view of who all schools that receive any government funding ought to be treated the Ontario legislature has enacted the Accepting Schools Act, known as Bill 13, which mandates that all schools in the province must allow GSA's regardless of whether they are public or Catholic schools. The Globe and Mail has details. Needless to say the child rapist protecting members of the Church hierarchy are beside themselves and playing the victim card - even though the Catholic schools are publicly funded due to a historic deal that was made back in the early days of Canada's split from Great Britain. Obviously, the next issue will be whether that public funding should end in the event the Catholic schools refuse to abide with Bill 13 - something that seems to be gaining popular support as reported here. Here are highlights on the bill's passage:
The Ontario government’s anti-bullying legislation is well on its way to becoming law, making it clear that sexual assault, gender-based violence and incidents based on homophobia will not be tolerated in the province’s elementary and secondary schools.
The Accepting Schools Act, known as Bill 13, passed third and final reading on Tuesday with a vote of 65 to 36. It was the first bill to pass since the Liberals won a minority in last October’s provincial election. The New Democratic Party supported the bill and all 36 Progressive Conservative MPPs voted against it.
“Today is about saying to Ontario students, ‘You can be who you are. You will be safe and accepted at school and the Ontario government supports you in that desire,’ ” a visibly relieved Education Minister Laurel Broten told reporters just minutes after the vote.
The bill amends the province’s Education Act and every school must comply with it, regardless of whether they are public or Catholic, Ms. Broten said. The bill has opened up a rift between Roman Catholic church leaders and the government over an amendment which removes schools’ veto over allowing students to set up clubs called Gay Straight Alliances.
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario praised the bill, saying students must be protected from discrimination, including homophobia. “We’re pleased that neither a board nor principal may prevent students from using the name ‘gay-straight alliance’ if they wish to start such a student organization,’” ETFO President Sam Hammond said in a statement.
Even as the bishops pout and stamp their feet, the lay trustees of the provinces Catholic schools seem to be getting the message that the bishops may be cutting the schools' financial throats. Here are these highlights:
Ontario’s Catholic school trustees fear that they have lost the support of their communities in their opposition to gay-straight alliances, and that the issue has eroded public support for Catholic education, a document obtained by The Globe and Mail shows.
The OCSTA memo amounts to an acknowledgement that the trustees are “out of step with where the rest of the culture is at” by taking a hard line against GSA’s, said Peter Tabuns, the New Democratic Party’s education critic.
He suggested that trustees may be raising questions about the McGuinty government’s commitment to funding Catholic education as a “rallying cry” to try to pull people together. “But I can’t see how it would be successful,” he said. “I don’t see the signals that would indicate the whole landscape is about to change.”
[T]he bill has turned into a debate on whether it will continue funding Catholic schools, Ms. MacLeod said. “This has opened up a Pandora’s box,” she said.
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