Rainbow WARRIORS
UCP may win this election on the economy, but young voters could make them pay later
Ever since Jason Kenney entered Alberta’s political stage two years ago, he’s been kept on his toes catering to competing interests within the “big tent” conservative movement.
The balancing act has been evident in his grassroots guarantee of taking policy direction from UCP faithful while also vowing to overrule ideas he sees as destructive to the party.
It’s been visible in his copious platform announcements, which have included well-researched ideas to alleviate specific problems, alongside far more impractical policies with little obvious benefit other than placating his base.
Such tightrope walking has also been apparent in his courting of both social conservatives and progressives — a trick he’s attempted by suggesting he has moved on from his old antiLGBTQ and abortion advocacy, while simultaneously avoiding any apologies or explanations of how his views have evolved.
This last high-wire act has been the most slippery of all, and Kenney may have taken an irreversible misstep this week with the education platform he unveiled that would roll back key protections on gay-straight alliances.
Of all the UCP policies to come out so far, this is the one I see as most essential for Albertans to understand what Kenney’s values are and where his loyalties lie.
When finally forced to make a choice on a social issue with little middle ground, he gave a nod toward those on the religious right, many of whom still cling to the view that homosexuality is something to be feared and shamed.
We’ll see what Albertans have to say on April 16.
But my suspicion is that by kicking this hornet’s nest, Kenney has badly misread the room on GSAs and failed to learn from the fractious history of this issue that tripped up his PC predecessors.
A hastily-organized GSA rally that attracted some 500 people to the legislature Wednesday is likely just the beginning of opposition Kenney will face. Though the crowd was bedecked in a rainbow of colours, their response to the UCP policy was delivered in stark black and white.
Kenney’s decision also provides a gift to Rachel Notley at a time the NDP desperately needs one.
Just when the NDP was taking flak for an ugly campaign focused on Kenney’s anti-LGBTQ past, the UCP leader made his rivals look more like prophets than persecutors.
The way Kenney chose to announce his education platform was also telling, as if he knew trouble might be coming.
Instead of mentioning GSAs by name, the UCP leader said his party would bring into force the Education Act — an unproclaimed bill that has been in legislative limbo for the last seven years — to replace the School Act.
While that may sound like an innocuous bit of paper shuffling, the devil is very much in the details.
The ultimate effect of switching the Acts would be to eliminate changes made by the NDP under Bill 24, and return to the law as it was under Bill 10.
The differences between those bills are subtle in language, but vital in application.
Under Bill 24, if a student requests a GSA, their principal must grant one “immediately.”
Bill 10 had no time requirement, a loophole some religious schools used to delay setting up the clubs.
Under Bill 24, private schools became subject to the same requirement as public schools in having to create and post policies affirming the rights of LGBTQ students to avoid mistreatment.
Bill 10 had no such demand for private schools.
Several of them have balked at the changes, filed a court challenge and flouted the law — in some cases by posting conflicting religious statements within their policies.
Kenney said Tuesday his party is “not against” asking schools to publish their policies, but that’s a far cry from requiring schools to publish a specific set of protections.
The UCP leader then went on to blast the NDP for threatening to remove funding from religious schools for publishing “pretty banal statements of faith.”
On this issue, I’d be interested to know what Kenney considers banal.
Here’s a bit of religious messaging used by one school: “Biblical distinctions such as those between children and their parents, as well we between men and women, must be maintained.”
And this: “Biblical marriage is the only legitimate and acceptable context for sexual intimacy.”
Maybe I’m nuts, but I gotta think LGBTQ students won’t see those statements as banal.
Most notably, the other major change under Bill 24 is a prohibition that prevents schools from informing parents when a student joins a GSA.
Kenney describes this protection as a blunt instrument. He said a UCP government would encourage GSAs but would leave it up to “highly trained” teachers to decide when and if to inform parents.
Two points in response. First, this puts teachers in an awful position, where making the wrong decision could have life-changing consequences.
Second, it’s rich for Kenney to say he trusts teachers’ expertise to handle such situations, when he clearly doesn’t trust their expertise on the government’s curriculum review, nor their ability to determine the most appropriate teaching method for their classes. (Discovery math, anyone?)
This is complex stuff. And part of me gets where Kenney is coming from on GSAs.
He’s right to say the NDP, at times, has used this issue as a wedge.
Freedom of religion is an important tenet of Canadian democracy, and parents have the right to raise their children in accordance with religious values.
But when that right comes into conflict with the need to protect the safety of LGBTQ students, there is no contest.
Whether intended or not, the effect of Kenney’s proposal is to offer a beacon to those who practise homophobia, at a time when Albertan values are going in he opposite direction.
Concerns about the economy may be enough to carry his party to victory this time.
But the UCP’s misguided platform has the potential to cause long-term discord with the youngest generations of voters, who polls indicate are already anxious about the UCP.
If Kenney isn’t careful, his big tent may soon deflate on top of him.
Supporters of the LGBTQ community marched to the UCP’s Edmonton headquarters from the provincial legislative grounds Wednesday evening to oppose proposed changes to laws surrounding gay-straight alliances (GSAs) in Alberta schools.
Close to 500 people waving pride and transgender flags joined the march after UCP Leader Jason Kenney said this week that a UCP government would replace Alberta’s School Act with the former Progressive Conservative Government’s Education Act .
The rollback would eliminate changes the NDP introduced with Bill 24, which prohibits school staff from informing parents that their children are participating in GSAs and requires school principals to immediately grant student requests to form a gay-straight alliance, among other regulations.
Among the crowd were a number of students who support their schools’ GSA programs.
“GSAs save lives, it’s an important part of our community,” said Kenya Gaunt, 14.
“We’re all kind of scared for ourselves, our friends, lots of people aren’t accepted at home so it’s scary that they may be outed to their parents.”
Lilly Logan-Mutch, a high school
Lots of people aren’t accepted at home so it’s scary that they may be outed to their parents.
student, said students and schools are supportive of GSAs.
She said she’s scared a rollback will mean LGBTQ kids will have their sexual orientation disclosed to their parents before they are ready.
“(Our school is) really supportive, most kids don’t care if you’re gay, bi or anything part of the community,” said Mutch.
“But at our school one girl’s parents found out she was going to a GSA and she wasn’t allowed to go anymore.”
Haley Hunka, an education student who is set to become a teacher in the new school year, said many people expect parents to always support their kids, but for the LGBTQ community that isn’t always the case.
“I really strongly believe that students need to feel safe, especially in schools, because it’s not always safe at home,” Hunka said.
The crowd, which included a number candidates running in the upcoming election, shouted chants of “Hey Jason, leave our kids alone” and “One, two, three, four, our kids are who we’re fighting for,” as they arrived at the front doors of the UCP headquarters.
David Campbell, one of the leaders of the chants, said he thinks Wednesday’s rally was effective.
“I think the impact of this, if it wasn’t made now, it will happen over the next few days,” he said.