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Manitoba Tories won't say whether they support gay student group clause in bill

By: Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press

Sunday, Mar. 3, 2013 at 5:01 PM | Comments: 0

WINNIPEG - Manitoba Opposition Leader Brian Pallister says his party will propose changes to a controversial anti-bullying bill, but he won't say whether he will support an existing clause on gay student groups.

"We're obviously doing a lot of consultation. Certainly, the media coverage to date has focused on one aspect of the bill," Pallister said in recent interview.

"We're concerned that the bill work for all children, not specifically concerned with a sub-set of the students of our province, but rather that it work to protect all children against bullying."

Bill 18 has already sparked controversy in some religious quarters. It would require schools to accommodate student groups and activities that promote equality based on gender, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity. The proposed law specifically would require schools to allow students to set up "gay-straight alliance" groups if they wanted.

Some groups have called the idea an attack on the freedom of religion.

Pallister and other members of the Progressive Conservative Opposition have said there are two other problems with the bill — a vague definition of bullying that includes hurt feelings and a lack of any specific consequence for bullies.

When asked whether his party would support the bill if those two concerns were addressed yet the allowance of gay-straight alliances remained, Pallister declined to say.

"The hypothetical discussion will become a real one in a fairly short time, I hope, and then we'll be able to answer that question when we see how the NDP responds to the proposals we're making. We have already, as a caucus, had discussion on this issue ... and we'll present those ideas at the appropriate time."

According to one political observer, some rural Tory legislature members are in a tight spot between supporting a bill that may be popular provincewide but unpopular in their constituency.

"They're in a bind," Steven Lecce, as associate professor and head of political studies at the University of Manitoba.

"One (option) is to stick to their guns and simply say 'on these moral and ethical issues, we're not willing to bend for strategic, tactical or political reasons.'

"That would strike me as odd in light of the last couple of years, particularly with federal Conservatives who have been incredibly astute at tapping into public opinion and navigating it."

The issue played out last year in Ontario, when a similar bill led to a public spat between then-premier Dalton McGuinty and Thomas Cardinal Collins, Catholic Archbishop of Toronto.

In Manitoba, some religious groups have already started letter-writing campaigns. One group, called the Campaign Life Coalition, calls the bill an example of "tyranny."

The issue will come to a head in the spring when the bill goes before public hearings. Manitoba is one of the few provinces that require public hearings for all legislation.

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