Jan Buterman is refusing a “substantial” cash settlement and offer of temporary employment from Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools so he can continue to talk about what happened to him, and rightly so. As he talks, the Catholic district, the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) and educators across the entire country should listen. It’s not very often a blatant case of true discrimination can be discussed so openly and it represents a significant teachable moment for everyone.
When Buterman’s case — removed from the district’s substitute teacher list after transitioning from a woman to a man — was first accepted by the Alberta Human Rights Commission in October 2009, the district repeatedly said we had only heard his side of the story and that the district’s position would be “based on a clear and defensible and rational point of view.” To date, we have not heard what that is. And given the original letter sent to Buterman states his situation violates certain tenets of the Catholic faith and would subsequently “confuse” students, we are simply left with the conclusion that the public school board fired a teacher in a discriminatory fashion and then tried to buy his silence with a $78,000 settlement and temporary contract. Naturally, signing a non-disclosure agreement and effectively muzzling Buterman would have been a part of the deal.
But Buterman would rather teach about his experiences than take the money, an admirable approach his lawyers seem to find confusing in writing, “It is easy to imagine the variety of negative conclusions that could be drawn from it, including those that focus on the generosity (sic) towards you.” More shameful still are the actions of the ATA, which will no longer fund Buterman’s legal fight because their lawyers have concluded the commission will likely throw the case out because Buterman did not accept what they believe is a fair and reasonable offer. Apparently the ATA’s idea of redressing a violation of a teacher’s fundamental human dignity only involves dollar signs.
To date there has been no mention of an action as simple as an apology or admission of wrongdoing on the part of the Catholic district, something apparently so sacred it is worth infinitely more than a bagful of cash. The core issue for St. Albert and the province — that a so-called public school district feels discrimination is acceptable as long as the church to which it is tied says so — has not been resolved. Former education minister Dave King has been adamant that the St. Albert district has no business taking direction from the Catholic Church, which it acknowledged doing when this issue first came to light — and he is right. When it comes to the most fundamental basic right of equality, reflected either in Buterman’s case or the district’s unwillingness to offer secular education options to Morinville students, it has proven it is as immoveable and stubborn as the church from which it takes orders. That the Catholic district tried to buy its way out of an unfavourable situation just adds more salt to its own wounds over its continued refusal to acknowledge the basic fundamental right to dignity afforded to every single person, regardless of physical or mental health or gender.
Buterman has acknowledged his refusal means the commission likely won’t choose to hear his case, which speaks volumes about just how far the human rights commission is willing to go as a quasi-judicial body when it comes to investigating violations. He is a graduate student, an activist for the transgendered and wants to be able to speak about what he has been through. We hope that when he speaks, the rest of the country actually stops and listens.
