GSA direction receiving debate ahead of Tuesday’s election

By JEREMY APPEL on April 13, 2019.

jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel

Since the NDP government passed Bill 24 in 2017, the subject of gay-straight alliances in Alberta’s schools and when parents should be notified of their child’s involvement has been the subject of much heated debate, which has only gotten louder during election time.

Bill 24 prevents schools from notifying parents of their kids’ involvement in a GSA, except in circumstances where the child is in clear danger.

The UCP says this legislation is overly restrictive and that schools should have more latitude to decide when to notify parents, while the NDP argues this position is akin to allowing the “outing” of LGBTQ kids to their parents.

Colette Smithers, the Alberta Party candidate for Cypress-Medicine Hat, falls on the NDP side of this debate.

“We need to protect children. We need to give them a safe space to be. GSAs save lives, so, yes, we’ll continue to protect children through GSAs,” said Smithers.

She questions why the UCP is concerned about the potential need to notify parents of kids in GSAs and not any other school club.

“We’re not encouraging kids in one direction or the other,” said Smithers. “It’s providing a place for children to, as they do, have conversations with their peers.

“Until kids are ready to share that conversation with their parents, leave them alone.”

Cypress-Medicine Hat UCP candidate Drew Barnes says his party supports GSAs as a peer-support and anti-bullying initiative.

He said they oppose mandatory notification, accusing the NDP of “raising divisive issues to distract from their record as a government.”

“Our concern is that the NDP legislation doesn’t allow educators to notify parents when it’s determined to be in the best interest of the student,” Barnes said. “We think professional educators, not provincial politicians, should make these decisions.”

A UCP government would replace the current School Act with a new Education Act, which Barnes says includes provisions that allow students to form GSAs.

Lynne MacWilliam, the NDP candidate in Brooks-Medicine Hat, says GSAs require special protection, given the hostility LGBTQ students often face.

“It’s important for GSAs to be there to provide a safe place for students – gay (and) straight – to be able to go in and talk, and let a student figure out who they are,” she said.

“There are a lot of kids, that if they’re afraid that they may be outed, then they may not attend these clubs.”

MacWilliam says parents should certainly be notified in specific cases where the child is at risk, but that this is the exception to the rule to be decided by teachers and administrators – precisely what the UCP says Bill 24 doesn’t do.

Alberta Advantage Party candidate for Cypress-Medicine Hat Terry Blacquier says his party’s position is to repeal Bill 24 and leave matters in the hands of students and teachers.

“(We) want to get rid of the mandated implementation that was put in by the government,” he said.

However, Blacquier was also critical of the UCP’s position in this issue.

“I believe they want to inform the parents and basically out the children,” he said.

Collin Pacholek, the Alberta Independence Party candidate for Brooks-Medicine Hat, says his party has no position on GSAs at this time.