The controversy over Bill 44 is overblown and will soon be forgotten, said St. Albert MLA Ken Allred after the controversial human rights amendment passed in the Alberta legislature.
The bill passed third reading just before 1:30 Tuesday morning. Neither of St. Albert’s MLAs was on duty during the marathon debate session, which saw 35 Tories vote in favour of the bill. It drew “no” votes from all five Alberta Liberals and both NDP MLAs present.
“I think all of the controversy is just ill-founded,” Allred said Tuesday in a phone interview. “I don’t think there’s going to be any problems at all.”
Bill 44 adds sexual orientation as a protected right under the province’s human rights legislation. But it has drawn fire for including a clause that allows parents to withdraw their children from classes that deal with sexuality.
This clause has raised concerns from the education sector that teachers may face human rights complaints. Educators also feel the School Act offers enough allowance for parents seeking to shield their children from what they feel are controversial issues.
Allred defended the bill and the opt-out section.
“I would certainly not withdraw my kids, but some parents feel very strongly that they want to teach their own children their values in those areas and I’ve got no problem with that,” Allred said.
Like Culture and Community Spirit Minister Lindsay Blackett, Allred believes that there’s a silent majority of Albertans who support the government.
“I’ve had a fair number of emails and phone calls from constituents on both sides of the fence. Certainly the opposition has been much more vocal about it,” said Allred.
Last week Blackett introduced amendments specifying that the parental opt-out clause applies to teachings that deal “primarily” with religion, human sexuality or sexual orientation.
Another change states that the law doesn’t apply to “incidental or indirect references to religion, religious themes, human sexuality or sexual orientation.” This was his attempt to soothe fears that the law will prevent spontaneous discussions around sexuality.
The changes provided little relief to local trustees.
“I don’t think there’s a great deal more clarity in those amendments,” said Catholic board chair Dave Caron. “Why we’re duplicating rights that already exist and why we’re layering a more onerous system over top, I can’t understand.”
Morag Pansegrau, vice-chair of the St. Albert Protestant board, said the amendments are an improvement but they won’t stop anyone who wants to use the legislation to mount a human rights test case.
“I think it’s totally unnecessary to have something to do with schooling in that broad bill,” she said. “It is preferable to what was in before … but I think we should have had the courage to remove that section from the act.”
Last week in the legislature Blackett assured the house that the bill has nothing to do with parents’ religious beliefs or teachable moments.
“There are very few requests to exempt students from discussions on human sexuality,” he said. “School boards have an excellent system to address parent concerns, and we respect that process.”
Allred thinks the controversy will die once the bill is proclaimed into law.
“I expect a year from now everybody will have forgotten all about it,” he said.