Education Minister Laurel Broten rejects Catholic trustees’ policy statement
Written by Deborah Gyapong, Canadian Catholic News Tuesday, 31 January 2012 11:32
Education Minister Laurel Broten is insisting that Catholic schools permit single-issue clubs such as gay-straight alliances despite the OCSTA’s outright rejection of such groups in a long-awaited document titled Respecting Differences. A battle is looming between the Ontario government and Catholic schools after the Education Minister rejected a key component of a new anti-bullying policy from the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association (OCSTA).
Laurel Broten is insisting that Catholic schools permit single-issue clubs such as gay-straight alliances despite the OCSTA’s outright rejection of such groups in a long-awaited document titled Respecting Differences.
Released Jan. 25, Respecting Difference affirms the Catholic identity of Catholic schools by stating that all clubs and activities must be “respectful of and consistent with Catholic teaching.” The document follows the Accepting Schools Act introduced last November by the minority Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty that would require all schools to accommodate gay-straight alliances or similar clubs under a different name.
“We’ve been absolutely crystal clear that we expect students to participate in groups and have the issues important to them talked about,” Broten said in a Jan. 30 interview from Toronto. Laurel Broten is insisting that Catholic schools permit single-issue clubs such as gay-straight alliances despite the OCSTA’s outright rejection of such groups in a long-awaited document titled Respecting Differences.
Released Jan. 25, Respecting Difference affirms the Catholic identity of Catholic schools by stating that all clubs and activities must be “respectful of and consistent with Catholic teaching.” The document follows the Accepting Schools Act introduced last November by the minority Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty that would require all schools to accommodate gay-straight alliances or similar clubs under a different name.
“I do feel very confident that Catholic boards will be able to operationalize the expectations we have set out consistent with Catholic education. We all have a responsibility to make sure all of our students and in this circumstance, we’re talking about our gay and lesbian students, or our students who come from families with two moms and two dads. It’s important every one of those students be accepted and welcomed in our schools.”
Broten agreed with the OCSTA document’s goals to combat bullying and said it contains “some very wonderful language.” But Broten said her policy is outlined in her anti-bullying Bill 13, introduced last November, a bill the Catholic Civil Rights League, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and other groups said threatens religious freedom and denominational rights.
More at The Catholic Register
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