Victoria – On the heels of the Tumbler Ridge tragedy: Students, educators and people attending faith services will soon see stronger protections that help ensure public spaces remain safe and respectful, with proposed laws extending safe‑access zones at schools and establishing new ones at places of worship.
“The ability for kids to learn and the ability for everyone to pray without harassment or intimidation is fundamental to who we are as Canadians and British Columbians,” said Premier David Eby. “Unfortunately, in recent years, we’ve seen people targeting places of worship and schools with threatening and coercive behaviour. These new protections will help ensure people can attend school and gather in prayer and celebration in peace.”
Government intends to table Bill 12, the safe access to schools amendment act, and Bill 13, the safe access to places of public worship act (SAPPWA). If passed, Bill 12 would extend 2024’s Safe Access to Schools Act (SASA) to ensure students, staff, parents and caregivers continue to access learning environments without obstruction. SAPPWA would create similar protections for people accessing places of worship, such as mosques, temples, gurdwaras, synagogues and churches.
Keeping students safe
Although the frequency of disruptions outside K-12 schools has fallen since SASA was enacted in 2024, they continue to occur. That’s why the Province is proposing to extend these protections to ensure students and educators continue to have safe, uninterrupted access to schools. The initial legislation has a sunset clause that would activate on July 1, 2026.
Since 2023, there have been more than 40 protest disruptions outside K-12 schools interrupting students’ learning. In a few cases, police were called to intervene.
“Students and staff deserve to feel safe and supported at schools,” said Lisa Beare, Minister of Education and Child Care. “This legislation gives us the tools we need to ensure learning environments remain free from disruption so that students can stay focused on their education.”
SASA establishes “access zones” around schools where specified forms of harmful behaviour are prohibited. These zones include the school property itself and a 20-metre buffer around it. Under the law, police are allowed to intervene to curb disruptive behaviour within the buffer zones, not just on school grounds.
SASA includes key safeguards to ensure access zones are limited in size, targeted in scope and apply only where and when students and staff are likely to be present.
Ensuring safe access to places of public worship
SAPPWA is part of government’s response to a rising trend of vandalism and other harmful behaviour targeting religious buildings and disrupting people’s access to and use of places of worship.
If passed, the legislation would extend similar protections as those offered by SASA to specific places of worship. Through the law, eligible places of worship would be able to post signage indicating access zones where specified disruptive or harmful behaviours would be prohibited. As with SASA, police would be able to arrest or issue tickets to anyone found impeding access, disrupting or interfering with these zones, or attempting to intimidate an individual within 20 metres (66 feet) of the property.
Both bills include sunset clauses that require reassessment from the legislature in the future to ensure they remain proportional and necessary. Bill 12 would extend SASA to July 1, 2028, and Bill 13 requires SAPPWA to be reassessed in 2030. SAPPWA’s protections would come into effect immediately upon receiving royal assent.
The legislation is modelled after previous legislation like the Access to Services (COVID-19) Act and the Access to Abortion Services Act. These laws reflect the Province’s ongoing commitment to keep people and communities safe and build on additional measures the provincial government is taking to protect public spaces.
FYI:
- An access zone is an area where specified forms of harmful behaviour are not allowed.
- Within the access zone, it can be an offence to engage in behaviours that can harm or disrupt people.
- People can call the police to intervene if they are concerned that behaviour within an access zone may be harmful to others.
- To learn more about the Safe Access to Schools Act, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/31006
