- Heather Stilwell
Heather Stilwell is a school trustee in Surrey,
British Columbia . She is a Christian and is well known for her conservative opinions onhomosexuality ,abortion , andsex education .Heather and her husband Bill were involved in the genesis of the
Christian Heritage Party in 1984 when some 12 people discussed the concept of such a party, which was registered withElections Canada in June 1986.From April 1993 to March 1994, she was the interim leader of the party and ran in the 1993 federal election in the riding of
Surrey—White Rock—South Langley . One of the most contentious policies of the Christian Heritage Party Policy is found in Section 6.4.3. and states: "Concerning the welfare of this Nation's citizens, we favour recriminalizing in theCriminal Code of Canada the murder of pre-born children, sexual deviancy, andpornography ." Stilwell initially entered the leadership race for the CHP at the 1994 convention, but withdrew and instead ran for the party presidency.Heather Stilwell was also executive vice-president and leader of the socially conservative
BC Family Coalition Party which later merged into theBritish Columbia Unity Party . Stilwell ran unsuccessfully in the 2001 provincial election, as a candidate in the riding ofSurrey-Panorama Ridge .She is a former national board member and Western Regional Coordinator for the
pro-life groupCampaign Life which is also strongly opposed to "special rights for homosexuals." [http://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/national_news/2005/news_0705.html] She is former President of theAlliance for Life , a national pro-life group based in Winnipeg,Manitoba . She is former President of Surrey-Delta Pro-Life Association, Pro-life Society of B.C. and both the Canada-wide and Surrey-Delta division of Alliance For Life. She is a member of the socially conservative lobby groupREAL Women of Canada .As co-founder of the publicly funded Surrey Traditional School in 1994, Stilwell played a key role in objecting to
library book s that offended the Christian beliefs she shares. These books were temporarily banned as they dealt with topics such asHalloween , theWicca religion and native-Indianspirituality . After pressure from the public, the school board allowed these books back into the library.Stilwell went on to become a member and eventual chair of the Surrey School Board. She voted to ban sex education and
condom machine s in Surrey schools. In 1997, she also voted, along with the majority of the school board, that three books dealing with families where both parents were of the same sex not be included as optional learning resources. These books were requested by akindergarten teacher to teach his pupils about diversity andtolerance .A legal battle to overturn the decision to ban the three books went all the way to the
Supreme Court of Canada , where the school board's decision was overturned in 2002. [http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/pub/2002/vol4/html/2002scr4_0710.html SCC decision--Chamberlain v. Surrey School District No. 36.] [ [http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2002/12/20/sex_books021220 CBC.ca ] ] [ [http://www.leftturn.ca/WillOffley/Affidavit.asp the-online-casino-review.com ] ] [ [http://www.egale.ca/index.asp?lang=E&menu=70&item=59 Egale Canada > Book Banning in Surrey—What Happened? ] ] The judgement in the case cited the need for families headed by same-sex couples to be respected.Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin dismissed the board's concerns that children would be confused or misled by classroom information about same-sex parents. She pointed out that the children of same-sex parents are rubbing shoulders with children from more traditional families and wrote: "Tolerance is always age-appropriate, children cannot learn unless they are exposed to views that differ from those they are taught at home." The legal fees ended up costing Surrey taxpayers over $1,200,000.Fact|date=October 2007Stilwell ran as an independent candidate for the School Board in the Surrey municipal election held Nov 19, 2005, and won re-election. [ [http://www.surrey.ca/Inside+City+Hall/Election/Election+Results+Summary.htm City of Surrey - Inside City Hall - Election - Election Results Summary ] ]
Stilwell recently proposed a motion which would ensure that if "Inconvenient Truth" were used as a resource in the Surrey School District, that other resources which give an opposing view also be used. This motion was unanimously passed by other members of the Board of Education. An article on the CBC website has quoted her on 'Inconvenient Truth': "I think there is climate change, there's no question about that. Whether what Al Gore says about it is the truth, I have questions." [ [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/05/14/bc-truth.html Inconvenient Truth raises questions in B.C. school district ] ]
References
External links
* [http://www.heatherstilwell.ca Heather Stilwell]
* [http://www.setforsurrey.ca/_hs.html Small biography of Heather Stilwell]
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