The Ontario government won’t back down in its battle with the Catholic church over the use of the term “gay-straight alliance” in schools.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said catholic schools are publicly funded so that means the education act, not the church, has the final say. He said schools must be safe and accepting places for all students and that clubs should be called ‘gay-straight alliances’ if they so choose.

“We learn as a result of our committee hearings that words matter. We are not mandating the terminology “gay-straight alliance, but we think it’s very important that should students so choose that they be able to use that language,” McGuinty said.

The New Democrats support the government but the Conservatives said the Liberals have no business legislating what name students can call their clubs.

Cardinal Thomas Collins, the archbishop of Toronto, said catholic schools should be allowed to use their own ways to deal with homophobia.