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TORONTO, Ontario, October 4, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After Premier Dalton McGuinty forced Ontario’s Catholic schools to introduce homosexual clubs this summer, Campaign Life Catholics is warning in advance of the October 6th election that another McGuinty government would be a disaster for all people of faith.

“It appears that Dalton McGuinty has an agenda that is not friendly to Catholic education.  In fact, he seems determined to thwart genuine Catholic teaching,” said Suresh Dominic of Campaign Life Catholics.

In July, McGuinty said homosexual clubs are “not a matter of choice” for the Catholic schools, while his Ministry of Education has insisted that these clubs cannot help homosexual students “reform their sexuality.”

Behind the scenes, the Liberal government has pushed the Catholic schools to implement gay-straight alliances specifically, even issuing what some have called a veiled threat that the schools’ public funding could be in jeopardy.

According to a highly placed anonymous source, in the midst of the controversy over Catholic schools and GSAs in the spring, Minister of Education Leona Dombrowsky made a phone call to Nancy Kirby, president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association.

“Why won’t you give them GSAs?  We have a lot of pressure being applied from outside parties who are raising the issue of Catholic funding,” said Dombrowsky. 

When pressed on Monday, Minister Dombrowsky admitted to speaking with Kirby numerous times but vehemently denied the accusation of a ‘veiled threat’.  “That is an outright lie,” Dombrowsky told LifeSiteNews.

“At no time did she ever threaten, veiled or otherwise, that the Catholic schools’ funding could be in jeopardy. That is an outright lie,” said Kelly Jackson, Dombrowsky’s senior policy advisor, in a follow-up e-mail.

The fear that the Catholic schools’ public funding is at risk over the subject of homosexuality is widely held.  The Catholic Civil Rights League pointed to it last month, urging Catholics to be vigilant in the lead-up to Thursday’s election.

“The possibility of losing publicly-funded Catholic schools is never far from the surface in Ontario, and there are groups that will use the controversy over equity policies and Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) in schools to push that agenda,” said Joanne McGarry, CCRL’s executive director.

“Candidates should be asked if they support the right of Catholic schools to have equity policies that conform to Catholic teaching,” she added.

“Considering the approach they have taken to date, another McGuinty government would be a disaster for Catholic schools,” said Dominic.

He insisted at the same time, however, that Campaign Life Coalition is urging concerned Ontarians to vote for pro-life and pro-family candidates, regardless of Party affiliation.

Members of McGuinty’s own cabinet have openly called on the Catholic boards to implement GSAs, something which the bishops and Catholic educational leaders have refused thus far.

In September, Minister of Transportation Kathleen Wynne told Xtra that she was “very disappointed” by the refusal of Catholic school boards’ to allow gay-straight alliances, but that she expected they “will all come around.”

While the Catholic schools are introducing “anti-bullying” clubs focused on sexual orientation, Wynne – a lesbian and the former Minister of Education – said it is “non-sense” that they would do so without using the term ‘gay’.

For ratings of candidates visit Campaign Life Coalition’s website here.

Contact Information:

Tim Hudak, Opposition Leader
Ontario PC Party
19 Duncan Street
Suite 401
Toronto, ON M5H 3H1
Phone: 416-861-0020
Toll-free: 1-800-903-6453
Fax: 416-861-9593
Email: [email protected]