Letters Sent to Political Parties
As we approach the 2024 provincial election, we remain committed to ensuring the protection of student media across British Columbia.
Last fall, we had the pleasure of having a meeting with civil servants in the Ministry of Attorney General about proceeding with the Student Press Freedom Act. While the government was supportive of the proposal, we were told the proximity to the 2024 election and the list of items currently underway left little room to get the Act perfect in order to be introduced into the Legislative Assembly. However, we were advised that regardless of the outcome of the election, the list of legislative tasks would reset, and there may be an opportunity to revisit the proposal then.
Although this outcome was not what we had hoped for, we appreciated the government’s respect for the law’s intention, the seriousness with which they treated the proposal, and their candour in explaining why we could not move forward at that time. We closed our meeting — which was attended by the Deputy Attorney General — by remarking that if the SPFA could not be passed by the government of today, we would see to it that it be passed by the government of tomorrow.
Now come election season, we’re continuing to advocate for just that. A few weeks back we sent letters to all major political parties asking for their commitment to introduce legislation to protect student press.
In the letters, we outlined in the past, current members from all parties in the legislature — the NDP, BC Liberals/United, Greens, and Conservatives — have expressed support for student press freedom. We explained that the SPFA is a non-partisan proposal for the protection of the values that compose Canada’s liberal democracy and that we are committed to working with any government to further our goal of statutory guarantees of press freedom in BC public schools. We look forward to their replies.
Over the past few months, we’ve taken the advocacy winter to further refine the text of our proposal. Designed with the user experience of legislation in mind, we want to maximize clarity in regard to the rights and responsibilities the Act creates for student journalists and school administrators. We’re pleased to make the latest draft of the SPFA available and welcome any stakeholder’s feedback.
In the coming months, we anticipate the release of a briefing we’ll be providing to the eventual government on the key issues surrounding the legislation. Our goal is to make protecting students’ rights as easy as possible for the next government and the civil servants advising them.
