New legislation promises to prohibit protests around schools.
Premier David Eby said Wednesday (April 10) that the legislation builds on legislation that protected health care workers from protesters against COVID-19 measures.
鈥淲e need to make sure that our schools are safe for everyone,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is a small minority of people that believe that school librarians and teachers are the major threats to our children,鈥� he added.
The legislation allows cabinet to establish what some call 鈥榖ubble-zones鈥� of 20 metres within schools, where individuals cannot 鈥渋ntimidate or attempt to intimidate鈥� persons or 鈥渙therwise do or say anything鈥� that could 鈥渞easonably be expected to cause concern鈥� for the 鈥減hysical or mental safety鈥� of persons. Individuals can also not physically block access from and to schools or disrupt school lessons or extracurricular activities.
Violators can be arrested.
The legislation includes limited exceptions for students and school staff and does not prohibit picketing.
Government had signalled the legislation during the Throne Speech in February. 鈥淣ew legislation will be tabled to protect schools and kids from disruptive protests,鈥� it reads.
It comes after a series of protests around schools against Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity 123 programming with Eby citing close to 20 such incidents during his remarks.
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Attorney-General Niki Sharma tabled the legislation Wednesday (April 10). 鈥淭hese prohibitions are designed to protect students and staff from the negative impacts of protests that have unfortunately become an increasing problem at our K-12 schools,鈥� Sharma said.
She added that the legislation is not about restricting free speech. 鈥淓veryone has the right to peaceful protests,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut just because you have the right to protests doesn鈥檛 mean you have the right to intimidate or harass.鈥�
The legislation does not automatically establish these limits, but gives cabinet the power to do so when necessary.
鈥淭he way we approached the construction of the legislation was to make sure we were nimble enough to respond鈥ut also be able to adjust over time,鈥� she said. She added that the legislation is trying to strike a balance between protecting constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech with preventing harassment.
The legislation is set to expire no later than July 1, 2026.
Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad accused the B.C. NDP of a double-standard in allowing protests critical of Israel to go forward while focusing on 鈥減arents who are concerned about their children in schools鈥� when asked about the legislation.
鈥淭here is no hate in that (questioning SOGI-123),鈥� he said. 鈥淭he issue is around parental rights and parents being involved with their children鈥檚 education, issues around information that鈥檚 being provided within schools, which seems to be in appropriate in my opinion.鈥�
He added that he would replace SOGI-123 with anti-bullying initiatives.
