Doctors with a limited education in science, social workers who believe that homosexuality is a choice and leaders with disdain for logical thought will in the future make up Alberta’s social fabric thanks to the Stelmach government's controversial Bill 44.
Despite the myth that the bill is simply about parental rights, as well as a step forward for gay rights, the bill is in fact neither. It is instead an amendment which seeks to limit information to students and promises to pit teachers against parents and school boards against teachers.
Officially called the Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Amendment Act, the government wants Bill 44 to be viewed as a leap forward because it finally fully includes sexual orientation under human rights legislation—something the province was compelled to do over 11 years ago by the Supreme Court.
But beyond this token gesture to the province’s LGBT community lies the problem with Bill 44. Central to the amendments in the bill is Section 9, which gives parents the right to remove a student from class when anything regarding sexual orientation is taught. This "parental right" is further extended to include the right to remove a student if anything that goes against the parent’s religious beliefs is to be taught. This could include lessons on other religions, ideas around tolerance and, most likely, facts about evolution. Regardless of Blackett’s 11th hour attempts to placate public concerns with slight wording changes, the bill remains a gaping loophole through which one fundamental parent can unfairly affect the education of many students.
What we as Albertans have to ask is what about a student’s rights? What about a student’s right to life-saving information in relation to sexual health education? What about a student’s right to free thought? What about instilling in students a healthy respect for inquiry?
With this bill the Conservative government seems hell-bent on positioning the province on the losing side of history in terms of human rights and education, and students will be the ones who suffer as a result. While Bill 44 looks set to become law this week despite widespread opposition across the province, its passage will not mark the end of the fight. It will be up to all Albertans to work with our teachers to ensure they feel supported, to talk about these issues with parents to encourage them to be fair and open, and to encourage our students to be hungry for information. They are, after all, the future leaders who will help us sort out the mess we have let ourselves get into.
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