Kenney takes aim at federal Tory hopeful O’Leary
PC leader backs parents’ right to know about LGBTQ issues their children face
New Tory Leader Jason Kenney says parents should be notified if their children join a gay-straight alliance at school and the NDP government should take a less confrontational approach with holdout schools on LGBTQ issues.
In an editorial board with Postmedia in Calgary on Tuesday, Kenney — who won the Progressive Conservative leadership just over a week ago — reiterated that if he becomes premier he will not repeal Bill 10, legislation passed in 2015 under the former PC government that mandates school boards allow gay-straight alliances where they are requested by students.
“I do, however, believe parents have a right to know what’s going on with their kids in the schools unless the parents are abusive,” said Kenney, an MP for nearly two decades before entering provincial politics.
“I don’t think it’s right to keep secrets from parents about challenges their kids are going through.”
The issue of parental notification around GSAs — student-led clubs aimed at reducing bullying of LGBTQ students — has been contentious, with advocates suggesting it could lead to gay students being outed to their parents without their consent.
Gordon Dirks, who was PC education minister when Bill 10 was passed, said at the time that the law did not require parental notification if a student started or joined a GSA. The law also requires school boards — but not private schools — to create an inclusive environment for students and staff, and adopt a code of conduct that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
After taking office in 2015, the NDP issued guidelines for school boards to develop policy around protecting LGBTQ students, with all boards required to submit draft plans last year.
NDP Education Minister David Eggen last week issued a ministerial order telling two Edmontonbased Baptist Schools to comply with the School Act, which states students must be allowed to form a gay-straight alliance if they request one.
The schools have said they will neither allow GSAs nor submit a policy, but that they are compliant with the law because they have no LGBTQ students or requests for GSAs.
An independent report commissioned by Eggen urged the government to close the “significant gap” in legislation to end the private school exemption around creating an inclusive environment.
Kenney said the NDP government shouldn’t be taking an “adversarial or aggressive approach” to the dispute with the two schools and should be trying to seek a “sensitive compromise that can ensure the safety of students and respect parental authority, as well.”
He said such issues can be dealt with primarily at the local level.
“I believe that principals, teachers, parents, can come up with sensible, practical, safe, compassionate solutions to these issues without them all being dictated by politicians in the legislature,” said Kenney.
Eggen was not made available for an interview Tuesday, but in a statement said “the law is the law.”
“I will always stand up for students. Standing up for students is the responsible, fair and right thing to do,” he said.
Eggen also said that when it comes to parental notification around GSAs, the government tries to work closely with parents around all aspects of education.
“In extraordinary circumstances, some students cannot talk to their parents about being in a GSA, so this would be putting students in an unsafe environment,” he said.
At the March 18 PC leadership convention, Kenney won 75 per cent of delegates after running on a platform of unifying the PCs with the Wildrose in a new party.
He met with Wildrose Leader Brian Jean last week and the two men agreed to set up a joint discussion group to come up with a unity agreement, with the group expected to report back by the end of April.
While Jean has said that he wants unification done with Wildrose as the legal framework, Kenney said Tuesday that the Wildrose leader never raised the idea during their meeting.
“I can’t see the members of either party supporting the notion of migrating over to the legal platform of the other party,” he said.
“Anything that looks like sort of abject surrender in this process is not going to be supported.”
In a statement, Jean said the meeting with Kenney was focused on “how to work collaboratively on the discussion of unity and nothing else.”
“Clear communication with members and not negotiating through the media should be our top priority and I know Mr. Kenney agrees with that sentiment,” said Jean.
He added that Wildrose members on the discussion group will raise important issues, such as “preserving our grassroots way of doing things and preserving our principles.”
While Kenney has called for the creation of a new party — in part because Elections Alberta has said there is no mechanism for parties to merge and transferring assets between parties is illegal — a group of conservative lawyers last week issued a report opining that the PCs and Wildrose could be legally amalgamated as societies or nonprofits.
Kenney told the editorial board he wants an official ruling from the province’s chief electoral officer on the lawyers’ memorandum to determine whether there is a path forward for a merger.