Bill 13: Gay-Straight Alliances (Ontario) Tag

21 Mar 2017 Five Bills in Five Years: Gender Ideology in Ontario

By John Sikkema Bill 33 in 2012 (“Toby’s Act”), Bill 13 in 2012 (“Accepting Schools Act”), Bill 77 in 2015 (“Affirming Gender Identity Act”), Bill 28 in 2016 (“All Families Are Equal Act”), and now Bill 89 (“Supporting Children, Youth, and Families Act”): together these bills represent the swift advance of a left-wing social agenda in Ontario. Bill 33 added “gender identity and gender expression” to Ontario’s Human Rights Code in 2012. Ontario was the first jurisdiction in North America to pass such a law. Bill 13 required public and Catholic schools...

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09 Mar 2017 Is Bill 89 about human rights? Don’t buy it.

Today we tackle the claim that Bill 89 is needed in order to bring Ontario’s child services law into better alignment with human rights law. The Opposition Critic for Children and Youth Services, Sylvia Jones (recently replaced by Gila Martow), expressed her support for the government’s Bill 89 early on, saying, “What I see in the legislation is now it’s just matching what’s in the Human Rights Code.” Here again, the Opposition could use a healthy dose of skepticism as it reviews government legislation. Yes, Bill 89 incorporates the list of protected...

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29 Jan 2014 Dr. Neufeld on Bullying: What Really Works?

In 2012 and 2013, ARPA focussed a lot of attention on Bill 13 in Ontario and Bill 18 in Manitoba, both of which claimed to be about combatting bullying even though the legislation itself did not reflect this. Sadly, in spite of a overwhelming opposition from the public and our readers, these bills were pushed through. But the issue is far from over. Other provinces are looking at the same issue, and Ontario and Manitoba will now have to grapple with the top-down and heavy-handed reality of their new laws....

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26 Jun 2012 Bill 13: Was it Worth It?

By André Schutten (www.ARPACanada.ca): For the past half year, the Ontario ARPA groups have worked hard to lobby against Bill 13, the so-called “Accepting Schools Act.” Hundreds of hours, thousands of dollars, countless emails and letters to Members of Provincial Parliament, and many prayers were spent in trying to amend the Bill or have it stopped completely. We rallied with other groups across the province. We presented comprehensive legal arguments against the problematic sections of the Bill. But we failed, it seems. The Bill passed, with the only real amendments being the inclusion of new, confusing, and undefined terms like biphobia, transphobia, gender identity and gender expression.
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06 Jun 2012 Bill 13 Passes Final Vote in Ontario Legislature

ARPA Note: Although this is very bad news, we are grateful that ARPA's in Ontario, and the Reformed community in general, made the MPPs and public well aware of its dangers. We fulfilled our duty to be a prophetic witness to our society. But let's not retreat now. Bill 13 should be a lesson to us to remain involved in the public square, both out of love for our secular neighbours, as well as to maintain the freedom to live our faith freely and openly. Other provinces must act now,...

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31 May 2012 Update: Bill 13 will soon apply to independent schools

It's (almost) official. Bill 13, though supposedly not designed to affect private or independent schools, most likely will. I'm not surprised. I've been arguing since December that it would eventually. I thought the change would be pushed through from inside the Ministry of Education. Instead, Barbara Hall, the Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, will do the heavy lifting. She stated at the Bill 13 Committee hearings on May 15 that,
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25 May 2012 Update: Bill 13 Presentation

On Tuesday morning, ARPA was able to present legal arguments to the Standing Committee on Social Policy as part of a Coalition of five concerned groups of Ontarians. The video for the presentation is now available on YouTube: Part 1 here and Part 2 here. To read our 20 page legal argument, click on the PDF linked at the bottom of this article. Continue reading...

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22 May 2012 Action Request: ARPA Presents to MPPs on Bill 13

This morning, a coalition of concerned Ontarians presented to the Ontario Standing Committee on Social Policy regarding Bill 13, the well-intentioned but poorly written anti-bullying law. Albertos Polizogopoulos presented on behalf of the Coalition for Parental Rights in Education, which included the Ontario ARPA groups. André Schutten, ARPA Canada’s legal counsel, was also present to observe.  There are a number of concerns with Bill 13 as have been outlined elsewhere on this site. These concerns were brought forward in a thorough legal analysis and explained in the short time available. Albertos also explained the very simple and small changes that could be made to the Bill that would address our concerns and still promote a bill that aims to tackle all bullying. We hope that the members of the Standing Committee take these concerns to heart.
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22 May 2012 Legal Submission to MPPs on Bill 13

This morning, a coalition of concerned Ontarians presented to the Ontario Standing Committee on Social Policy regarding Bill 13, the well-intentioned but poorly written anti-bullying law. Albertos Polizogopoulos presented on behalf of the Coalition for Parental Rights in Education, which included the Ontario ARPA groups. André Schutten, ARPA Canada’s legal counsel, was also present to observe.  There are a number of concerns with Bill 13 as have been outlined elsewhere on this site. These concerns were brought forward in a thorough legal analysis and explained in the short time available. Albertos also explained the very simple and small changes that could be made to the Bill that would address our concerns and still promote a bill that aims to tackle all bullying. We hope that the members of the Standing Committee take these concerns to heart.
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