Lukaszuk lone Tory to vote against Bill 10

Omnibus rights legislation passes second reading 42 to 10

The Progressive Conservative government used its majority Tuesday to push a bill dealing with gay-straight alliances through the legislative process, despite growing criticism of the hastily written legislation.

Bill 10, tabled this week, is an omnibus bill that will make sexual orientation a prohibited grounds for discrimination and gives Alberta students the right to appeal to the school board and then the courts if they are not allowed to start a gay-straight alliance at a school.

It also gives parents the right to “make informed decisions respecting the education of their children,” while removing their right to pull students out of classroom discussions on sexual orientation.

Opponents of the government say it introduced the legislation to quash Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman’s Bill 202, which would have forced school boards to allow gay-straight alliances when students request them. The government has refused to say when it began writing the bill, but it was still being drafted last week.

It passed second reading Tuesday evening by a vote of 42 to 10, with Edmonton-Castle Downs MLA Thomas Lukaszuk the only Tory to vote against the bill.

“I don’t believe in bestowing human rights on people in an incremental manner,” Lukaszuk said in an interview before the vote.

Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith and Wildrose MLA Jeff Wilson joined the NDP and Liberals in also voting against the bill.

Much of the debate from opposition MLAs focused on the need to guarantee students a safe space in school by protecting a student’s ability to start a gay-straight alliance.

“While I respect that we need to find a balance with parental rights and with religious freedom, I think we need to also respect that in the case of these mature youths this really is a case of life or death for some of them,” Smith said in an impassioned speech during the debate.

She said she would have supported Blakeman’s legislation, which she said offered better protections for LGBTQ students. Blakeman’s bill, however, was effectively killed when Bill 10 passed second reading.

Calgary MLA Sandra Jansen, the government bill’s sponsor, said in the legislature that Blakeman’s bill had been unlikely to pass.

“I choose to support progress instead of the status quo,” Jansen said.

Criticism of the legislation extended into Tory party ranks, with several members wading into the debate on social media and blogs.

Calgary-Bow PC riding association president Josh Traptow published a Facebook post slamming Bill 10.

“Students should not have to go to court to force a school or board to approve a GSA,” he wrote. “It should be mandated.”

One-time PC leadership contender and former MLA Jim Dinning wrote a tweet critical of the government’s move to limit debate on the legislation. “Rights require full debate, never closure,” he wrote.

Figures shared by Education Minister Gordon Dirks this week show gay-straight alliances are outnumbered 14 to one by other anti-bullying and diversity student groups. Across Alberta, there are 665 diversity clubs, 637 antibullying clubs and 94 gaystraight alliances, according to data gathered from all 61 school boards.

Opposition critics say the disproportionately lower number of gay-straight alliances demonstrates the need for legislation protecting the school clubs.

“Without that very strong encouragement, these schools won’t do it,” Blakeman said.

The student groups bring LGBTQ students together with their straight peers to create a safe environment.

Studies show they are effective at reducing the chance of suicide among gay and straight students. mibrahim@edmontonjournal.com Twitter.com/mariamdena