As the provincial bill to switch St. Albert's school boards moved a step closer to becoming law Tuesday night, St. Albert MLA Ken Allred took the opportunity to speak out against his own government's bill.
During debate before the bill was given second reading Tuesday night, Allred spoke out against Bill 4: the St. Albert and Sturgeon Valley School Districts Establishment Act.
First announced in February, the act was designed to address the demand for secular education in Morinville. Until recently, all the schools in that town were operated by Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools, which is the public board in Morinville and St. Albert.
Under the proposed legislation, this Catholic public board will become a separate board and public education will be provided in Morinville by the Sturgeon School Division and in St. Albert by a new public board to be formed by the current Protestant separate board.
In his challenge to the government Tuesday night Allred agreed with Protestant trustees that they will lose minority rights afforded a separate school board, such as taxation powers and the authority to elect trustees.
"The government is saying in Bill 4: we can take away the constitutional rights that you've enjoyed for more than 50 years, but we won't provide a comparable guarantee," said Allred, according to official transcript of the debate.
St. Albert Protestant Schools doesn't operate any schools in Morinville so the board is losing rights even though it's not involved in the issue, Allred argued.
"St. Albert Protestant is being punished and Greater St. Albert Catholic is being rewarded," he said.
Allred suggested the legislation be changed to allow St. Albert Protestant to keep its minority rights, while becoming the public board. His proposal would have prevented future education ministers from removing any of those minority rights unless the Protestant board endorsed the move.
Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk did not respond in the legislature to Allred's comments, but on Thursday he said in an interview that he doesn't intend to change the bill. He said the rights the board is concerned about aren't a major issue.
"It is an academic concern. It is not a practical concern because none of these rights that academically they are losing, are rights that in any way impact their operations or that they have at all exercised."
He said he has no plans to change the board's boundaries or change how it elects trustees, but over the long term those things could change regardless of any guarantees he might make to the present board.
"This is the most academic argument of them all because no government of the day can guarantee what a government of the future is going to do," he said.
Bigger issue
Allred also argued in the legislature that it may be time to move past the idea of Catholic schools altogether.
"We need to rethink our centuries-old laws and traditions and determine if they are still applicable in this day and age," he said. "We live in a multicultural society, and there is no justification for extending special privileges to religious minority that we do not extend to all."
Allred thinks religious education might be best left to religious institutions and not schools.
"Why should we push religious education on those who are non believers or simply want to separate religion from the education system, as clearly is being demonstrated in Morinville today?" he wondered.
In an interview Wednesday, Allred said he wouldn't support the proposed bill unless it was amended.
Allred is largely alone in his disapproval of the bill, with the government and even the opposition parties generally supportive. He said he knows his opposition is largely symbolic, but he felt it was important to speak up.
"I wasn't speaking against the government I was speaking against this bill," he said. "We need some democracy in this house and I am prepared to stand up and speak up."
Lukaszuk said, while he disagrees with Allred's argument, he respects that Allred is simply representing his constituents.
He said opposition and government members are there to make legislation better.
"Their job is to criticize, critique and improve my legislation and if he feels my legislation is lacking and needs to be improved then he must file amendments."
Allred said he believes religion and faith are important, but said it might be best to leave them out of the classroom. There is always pressure to add new courses to the curriculum on issues like financial literacy and this might be a way to make that room, he said.
"Maybe if we put religious instruction in its proper place in the churches we could expand the curriculum to provide more educational classes," he said.
Lukaszuk said the Alberta government prides itself on the choice it offers through Catholic education, as well as private and charter schools and even home-schooling and he has no intention of removing the Catholic option.
"We have a tradition of Catholic education particularly in St. Albert where it all started and there is no appetite in this government for doing away with Catholic education," he said. "Parents are obviously voting with their feet by sending kids to Catholic schools and they appear to be very supportive."
An election call is rumoured to be weeks away, but Lukaszuk said he's hopeful the legislature will pass the bill before the writ is dropped.
