TORONTO — The Archbishop of Toronto issued a stinging attack against the Ontario government’s anti-bullying bill Monday, after the Liberals announced students must be allowed to name anti-homophobia clubs “gay-straight alliances.”
“Trustees and principals are legitimate stewards of the spiritual tradition of the school, and in a Catholic school that includes the Catholic faith tradition,” Thomas Cardinal Collins said in a statement.
“Why should the power of provincial law be used to override that legitimate adult authority so that this one particular method can be imposed by any student who wants to do so?”
When the legislation was introduced, the Liberals said Catholic schools must allow anti-homophobia clubs but gave principals the power to veto the name gay-straight alliances.
Education Minister Laurel Broten said Monday she changed her mind after hearing from students who don’t want her or principals and trustees dictating the names of their clubs.
“We know that words matter. The message that we’re giving to Ontario students today is you will be listened to, it’s your club,” Broten told reporters.
“The premier and I were both very clear that it was not for us at Queen’s Park to tell them what the name of their club should be, but neither should it be for someone else sitting in some other office in the province to tell them what the name of their club can’t be.”
Cardinal Collins, who is also president of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario, said “it is not helpful when Queen’s Park moves in” to give students control of an issue instead of elected trustees, and warned other religious groups they too could be targeted.
“Please consider the implications for all when legislation is enacted that overrides the deeply held beliefs of any faith community in our province, and intrudes on its freedom to act in a way that is in accord with its principles of consciences,” wrote Collins.
“If it happens to us, it can happen to you, on this and other issues. When religious freedom becomes a second class right, you also will eventually be affected.”
Collins did not point out that no other religious group gets public funding for their schools in Ontario.
The Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association called the word gay “a distraction” and said anti-bullying legislation is supposed to protect all students, not just those who are picked on because of their sexual orientation.
“We don’t want to focus on the name,” said OCSTA president Marino Gazzola.
“We want to focus on the content and what the groups are all about. These are externally developed groups that do not necessarily reflect the unique values of our students.”
The Progressive Conservatives said the Liberals were picking a fight with the Catholic school system, which gets about 33 per cent of Ontario’s $24 billion annual education budget.
“The government has decided in this case to be aggressive, they want to provoke the Catholic education system for whatever reason,” said Tory education critic Lisa MacLeod.
The Tories said they would try to block the amendment that would force Catholic schools to allow gay-straight alliances by that name.
The New Democrats said the Liberals have finally got it right by admitting you can’t solve a problem like homophobia if you’re afraid to use the word “gay.”
“It’s pretty clear that all the boards should be following the same rules,” said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.