Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman broke into tears at a news conference late Monday afternoon as she realized she would never be able to speak in the Alberta legislature about her private member’s bill on gay-straight alliances.
“This bill was dedicated to my mother,” she told a room of reporters at the Alberta Legislature. “I never got to say anything.”
Blakeman’s mother was a teacher and principal for 35 years.
“She made safe places for every teacher, staff and child in every school she was in,” Blakeman said. “I wanted to dedicate the bill to her. The Tories wouldn’t even let me do that.”
Earlier Monday, the PC government introduced Bill 10 in response to Bill 202 .
Due to procedural issues, the new bill will get to second reading first – meaning Blakeman’s Bill 202 will drop from the order paper.
Students can go to court
Blakeman’s bill would have made gay-straight alliances mandatory in schools where students ask for them.
The new bill, called Act to Amend the Alberta Bill of Rights to Protect our Children, does not. Instead, students who are prohibited from forming a GSA by their school board can ask the Court of Queen’s Bench for a judicial review.
“Marginalized students and/or their families should not be having to go out and pay for a lawyer to pay for protection from bullying in their school,” said NDP leader Rachel Notley.
Bill 10 repeals section 11.1 of the Alberta Human Rights Act – the parental opt-out – and moves it to the School and Education Acts. Parents will no longer be notified when sexual orientation is discussed in the classroom.
Sexual orientation is added to prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Alberta Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights will also be changed to give the parents the right to make informed decisions about their children’s education.
