Interim Staff
On Oct. 6, the British Columbia legislature debated for an hour a motion condemning Association for Reformed Political Action’s (ARPA) “views and policies.”
NDP MLA Rohini Arora (Burnaby East) introduced Motion 38, “Views and Policies of Association for Reformed Political Action.” The motion stated, “That this House condemns the intolerant views of the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA), including its harmful discrimination against transgender people, its belief that homosexuality is ‘immoral’ and its explicit policy goal of restricting abortion access in British Columbia.”
Arora insisted, “British Columbia is a place where we respect rights equally, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, and where we respect a woman’s right to make their own reproductive choices” and abortion is a “right that is universally respected in B.C.” Therefore, she said, “That’s why members of the public and members of this House, including myself, were shocked when the member for Chilliwack North brought an organization to this building actively promoting that ‘homosexuality is immoral and morally wrong’.” That MLA was Heather Maahs (B.C. Conservative Party) and that group was ARPA.
Arora complained that ARPA is opposed to abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, and the ban against so-called conversion therapy. “They are actively lobbying MLAs in this building to restrict abortion access for women,” she complained.
She also complained Maahs and other MLAs “are trying to bring these hateful and harmful issues back.” She said it was important that those who oppose ARPA’s position – the position held by millions of Canadians – is why “this motion is so important to bring forward.” Arora said, “These issues shouldn’t be a matter of opinion. Human rights should not be up for debate.”
ARPA said that the NDP was concerned about the organization’s reception at the B.C. legislature in April when they raised two specific issues, medical gender transitioning for minors and euthanasia, neither of which was raised by the MLAs who spoke in favour of the motion. NDP, Green and independent MLAs speaking in favour of the motion condemned ARPA’s positions on gender identity, sexual orientation, same-sex marriage, conversion therapy, abortion, IVF, and surrogacy.
OneBC MLA Dallas Brodie (Vancouver-Quilchen) condemned the motion. She wondered if Arora and her colleagues “truly think that only British Columbians who agree with her deserve to be represented in the Legislature? … Will she be saying that British Columbians are uninvited guests in their own province, in their own Legislature? I stand up for every British Columbian regardless of who they are or where they’re from.”
Brodie’s OneBC colleague, Tara Armstrong (Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream), also spoke against the motion. “What the member for Burnaby East is doing is trying to divide British Columbians that are perfectly happy coexisting with one another into baskets labelled as good and bad and hateful and tolerant.”
The motion passed 48-3. Independent MLA Elenore Sturko, a lesbian who represents Surrey-Cloverdale who was removed from the Conservative caucus in September, joined NDP and Green MLAs. Both of OneBC’s MLAs and independent Jordan Kealy (Peace River North), who quit the Conservative caucus in March, voted against the motion. The Conservative caucus abstained from the vote.
The lone Conservative MLA to address the motion, Larry Neufeld (Peace River South), accused the NDP government of “political gamesmanship” and “political trap” and that the legislature should be debating a host of other issues like health care and education.
Kealy also argued that the legislature could better use its time to debate other issues but still voted against the motion.
ARPA said the ordeal “reminds us of the words of Jesus in John 15:18-21: ‘If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you’.” ARPA said, “If we were of the world” and supported abortion, same-sex marriage and medical gender-transitioning or remained silent about them, “these MLAs would not have condemned us.”
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