Advocate Romi Chandra furious at Heather Stilwell selection to the board of the B.C. College of Social Workers
A long-time queer advocate is incensed that Mary Polak, B.C.’s minister of children and family development, has appointed a former colleague to the board of the B.C. College of Social Workers.
“It’s very difficult to tolerate someone who has fought to criminalize your very existence,” Romi Chandra said of former Surrey school board trustee Heather Stilwell in a phone interview with the Straight. Stilwell led the fight to ban gay-friendly books from Surrey schools in the late ’90s and was interim leader of the Christian Heritage Party from 1993 to 1994. “In our schools, we are taught to have zero-tolerance policies towards hatred and bullying,” he said. “Yet the minister responsible for children seems to believe that we should support and tolerate someone like Stilwell, someone who would rather us go back to before 1969, when you could be thrown in jail or fired because you were gay.”
Stilwell told the Straight by phone it was “likely” that the CHP party platform advocated the recriminalization of homosexuality while she was at the helm, but that this fact had “gone out” of her head in 2010.
Polak, who served on the Surrey school board at the time of the book-banning fight, brushed aside Chandra’s criticism of her appointment.
“We have in British Columbia a very diverse multicultural society,” Polak told the Straight by phone. “We encourage that around any board table. A diversity of views is healthy, and it’s ironic that those who are preaching tolerance have become very intolerant in this instance.”
Chandra was also present in Surrey during the battles to ban the books, a fight that went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada before the Surrey school district was forced to reevaluate them using secular criteria.
Polak said it is important to remember that at the end of the court case, “Surrey became the first school district in the province to approve curriculum materials for primary grades dealing with same-sex families. That’s a fact.”
Chandra said the Surrey school district “had no choice” after a drawn-out legal battle that cost around $1 million in fees.
“Good for her for recognizing that”¦.$1 million later,” he said.
Stilwell said she is one voice “on a 12-member board. How powerful do they think I am?”
Comments
6 Comments
Polakite
Feb 4, 2010 at 9:48am
I think Mary Polak has behaved honourably in this instance. Politically correct? Obviously not. But clearly Mary Polak is a peacemaker compared to the homo advocates... and Heather Shitwell.
seth
Feb 4, 2010 at 9:55am
The Theocons are taking a run at the BC Liberal party?
With Gordo's unpopularity, membership in the tank, huge debts, a few words from a fired up preacher up on his hind legs down at the Alliance and Pentecostal churches, and the faithful will be buying Liberal party memberships by the caseload. Just ask Joe Clark how it works.
Diane Watts, Carole Taylor forget it. Its Herr Kruger for premier.
Matthew,Charley you need to get on this!!!
seth
RodSmelser
Feb 6, 2010 at 12:11am
Matt, isn't the Liberal Govt who made this appointment the same Liberal Govt that brought in the carbon tax? Just asking.
Rod Smelser
Shelagh
Feb 6, 2010 at 10:54am
I doubt that Stilwell, or Polak for that matter, has ever read the Canadian Association of Social Workers Guidelines for Ethical Practice:
1.1.2 Social workers do not discriminate against any person on the basis of age, abilities, ethnic background, gender, language, marital status, national ancestry, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation or socio-economic status.
Board Members should espouse the values and principles that they are tasked with upholding.
Polakite
Feb 6, 2010 at 11:31pm
I feel sorry for Mary Polak. She could be join @BCLobbyist & @GracieStyle on Twitter as a lobbyist star and drive some hot car and make all the media hits she wants... but no, she puts up with smear jobs from blogheads like you blokes. The closest thing to driving something hot is some yahoo loudmouth putting YouTubes of "Her Maryesty" up blowing up BCNDP lies in a CF-18: http://youtube.com/BCLibFan
Gotta feel sorry for Mary. I do. Perhaps she ought to run for Prime Minister... she'd at least take her pistol to the proogue pies that fatty PMSH/Prime Minister Stephen Harper has. At least she got cojones!
O.
Feb 21, 2010 at 10:02am
In rebuttal to Polakite's comment, I don't have an ounce of sympathy at all. This is same old corruption we've seen so many times before. Don't forget, the Slurrey School Board went so far as to actively censor the arts when they shut down Elgin Park Secondary's production of "The Laramie Project", and then the board chair went on to spout two-faced lies about why that was done. Religious dinosaurs have no place in 21st- century social engineering.