Surrey School Board Trustee Heather Stilwell gained national attention this past May by proposing that The Great Global Warming Swindle be made available in Surrey high schools alongside An Inconvenient Truth in order to ensure students are offered a "balanced perspective" on the issue of global warming.

The Board heard her proposal in May and unanimously passed the following motion:

THAT WHEREAS it has been reported in the media that all secondary schools in the Province will be provided with a copy of the movie “An Inconvenient Truth”; and WHEREAS this movie is advancing one particular view of the world’s climate change based on ice, etc.; and WHEREAS many scientists world-wide have expressed scepticism about this scientific accuracy; and WHEREAS it is our role as Trustees to ensure that students are provided with accurate information and a balanced perspective when there is credible information presented on two sides of an issue.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the school district’s Instructional Resources staff ensure that the resource “The Great Global Warming Swindle” if approved by the district’s Learning Resource Committee, and/or any other resource the committee identifies that provides a balanced view of global warming, be made available to our schools.

Chairperson Wilson called the question on the amended motion and it was CARRIED unanimously.

I contacted Heather Stilwell last week who said, "As we left it at the end of June, staff were working on getting the kind of permission rights that we require for school use. It is certainly my expectation that this will be available in September."

The Great Global Warming Swindle has been widely criticized for misrepresenting global warming science and the opinions of researchers. In an embarrassing appearance, the film's director Martin Durkin was recently interviewed on ABC Australia where he was confronted about the film's inaccuracies and offered little information in his own defence.