By The Canadian Press

Alberta education minister orders Baptist schools to allow gay-straight groups

Mar 24, 2017 | 10:52 AM

EDMONTON –  Alberta’s education minister has issued a ministerial order requiring two private Baptist schools to allow the establishment of gay-straight alliances by students.

Education Minister David Eggen issued the order to Harvest Baptist Academy in Parkland County, west of Edmonton, and Edmonton’s Meadows Baptist Academy, which are both run by the Independent Baptist Christian Education Society.

Eggen’s order also instructs the society to ensure a staff member be designated to act as a liaison to such a student group.

The schools were first informed of their responsibility to comply with the relevant section of the School Act in November 2015 and asked to submit their aligned policies by March 2016.

The government said the society responded with an anti-bullying policy but the guidelines did not specifically address the rights of students to form gay-straight alliances.

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The society sent the government a letter saying such alliances are incompatible with their Christian beliefs and the mission of their schools.