News

Image

MANITOBA, July 9, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a bid to become Canada’s most LGBTQ-influenced school system, Manitoba’s NDP Ministry of Education has announced development of a new “provincial code of conduct” — added on top of its proposed anti-bullying legislation — that critics say will effectively silence any student voice dissenting from the gay agenda. 

“What this means for gay students is when they are bullied, there will be very clear consequences,” Manitoba Education Minister Nancy Allan told Xtra. “Everybody in the school will know what the consequences are.”

“Bullying of any student for any reason is categorically wrong,” said Jack Fonseca, spokesman for Campaign Life Coalition, to LifeSiteNews.com. “If this code was sincerely about anti-bullying, we’d applaud it. However, the code’s singular preoccupation with homosexuality broadcasts its true intent, which is to provide a weapon with which gay-activists can smear and silence bible-believing students, teachers, and parents.”

Fonseca said that only on the surface is the proposed code about discouraging bullying.

“What’s going to happen is that the term ‘bullying’ will be interpreted to include a student simply expressing his/her religious beliefs about marriage and human sexuality. For instance, a Christian student who raises his or her hand in class to object to pro-gay indoctrination by a teacher, or let’s say, after hearing comments in class which denigrate biblical beliefs on sexuality, may find him/herself accused of ‘homophobic bullying’. Then, under this code, they themselves could be subject to disciplinary action.”

According to the Ministry, the code of conduct will “set out a range of appropriate disciplinary consequences” to provide schools with “more tools to address bullying in a clear and consistent way”.

The code will allow its enforcers to hand out a broad range of consequences to any students deemed “bullies”, including an interview and dialogue process with the student that could result in detention or suspension, reported Xtra.

“If it's a serious matter, it could be referred to law enforcement officials,” said Minister Allan.

“We want all of our students to feel safe. And we want bullies to know there are real consequences for their actions,” stated the Ministry in a press release last week.

Life and family leaders, politicians, and private school principals are incensed at the government’s unapologetic and seemingly unstoppable promotion of the gay agenda, calling it a heavy-handed attack on educational and religious freedoms.

Research commissioned by the Toronto District School Board shows that the majority of students experience bullying because of body image, followed by grades, language, gender, religion and income.

“Sexual orientation does not even rank on the top list of reasons why students are bullied, and yet the code (and the pending legislation, Bill 18) virtually ignores the main reasons kids are bullied, to focus almost entirely on homosexuality,” Fonseca said.  

“Why ignore the main reasons kids are actually bullied, unless you’re not truly interested in bullying? How will this code help the “fat” kids who get picked on? Or the skinny kids? Or the kids with glasses?”

“This laser-like focus on sexual orientation reveals there is a sexual agenda. When you combine that with the fact that the MB government is imposing openly homosexual student clubs on all schools, and has enlisted the premier gay-activist organization in Canada to write some of its resources, it becomes undeniable that the government has a gay agenda, and this has nothing to do with anti-bullying,” he said.

The Ministry’s announcement of the code came simultaneously with the announcement of the passage of a “new regulation” that will require “all schools to follow the new provincial code of conduct in the coming year”. The Ministry stated that its mandatory proposed code will help to “ensure we have the strongest anti-bullying legislation in Canada”.

The code builds on the much-contested Bill 18, which would force all publicly funded schools to accommodate homosexual student clubs. 

Image

The prairie province’s movement towards “safe schools” has no foreseeable limit in sight. The Manitoba Teachers’ Society (MTS) passed a resolution in May to lobby the provincial government to revamp its entire spectrum of existing curricula to include LGBTQ issues, people, and values, asking for a curricula that would “aid in creating inclusive learning environments for students”.

For example, a math problem in the revised curricula “might include a mother and father, but can also include a single parent or parents of the same gender,” a delegate said at the MTS’s Annual General Meeting in May. The MTS resolution also asked that the government “ensure” that “safe school legislation” would “specifically address homophobia and violence prevention.”

The small city of Steinbach, called the most Christian city in Canada, has become a rallying point for the resistance to the government’s advocacy for the gay movement.

Honourable Vic Toews, who resigned from politics yesterday, has criticized the proposed anti-bullying law as a violation of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Toews, who was the Regional Minister for Manitoba, Member of Parliament for Provencher, and federal representative for the city of Steinbach, said that the “application of some of its provisions involve an unconstitutional infringement upon the freedom of religion.”

Scott Wiebe, principal at Steinbach Christian High School, has said that forcing public and faith-based independent schools to “act against their beliefs and their community values is not the way to combat bullying”.

Despite the escalating clamor against forcing faith-based schools to accept legislation contrary to their beliefs, Education Minister Allen has made it clear that the proposed legislation leaves no room for accommodation.

“We are not in the process of making any exceptions for faith-based groups,” she told reporters in March.

Campaign Life Coalition is urging parents to fight for their children and for religious freedom.

“Manitoba parents need to fight for their right to be the primary educator of their children and to not have the state undermine their religious beliefs” said Fonseca.

Contact:

Vic Toews
Member of Parliament for Provencher
8-227 Main Street
Steinbach, MB  R5G 1Y7
Phone:(204) 326-9889
Toll Free: 1 866 333 1933
Fax: (204) 346-9874
 
Nancy Allen, Manitoba Minister of Education
168 Legislative Building, 450 Broadway
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0V8
Phone: 204-945-3720
Fax: 204-945-1291
 
Greg Selinger, Premier of Manitoba
204 Legislative Building, 450 Broadway
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0V8
Phone: 204-945-3714
Fax: 204-949-1484
 
Brian Pallister, Leader of the Official Opposition
172 Legislative Building, 450 Broadway
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0V8
Phone: 204-945-3593
Fax: 204-945-1299
 
Kelvin Goertzen, MLA Steinbach, Education Critic
227 Legislative Building, 450 Broadway
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0V8
Phone: 204-945-0231
Fax: 204-948-2092