The board of the Sturgeon School Division showed last week that it’s more interested in finding ways to justify the continuation of the tradition of reciting the Lord’s Prayer in a local public school than it is in embracing an opportunity to become a truly inclusive public school jurisdiction.
In a 5-2 vote, the board approved three religion-oriented policies that provide a mechanism for parents seeking the Lord’s Prayer to file a request with their school’s principal, who will pass the request on to the board. The board will decide based on prevailing parental opinion, as assessed by the school principal.
To back up its decision, the board is citing numerous pieces of legislation, including the School Ordinance of the Northwest Territories, the Alberta Act and the School Act.
Of most relevance are the School Ordinance of the Northwest Territories, which allows the Lord’s Prayer to begin each school day, and the School Act, which permits school boards to prescribe religious exercises or instruction.
The School Ordinance was enacted in 1901, before Alberta was even a province. The Alberta Act came into force in 1905 and the Education Act, which is under review, is so outdated that it presumes that anyone who isn’t Catholic must be Protestant and vice versa.
The board appears to have been focused on finding legislation that fit its end goal: to allow the Lord’s Prayer to continue at Sturgeon Heights School. The board meeting highlights published after the decision state: “ ... while the board discussed options for allowing greater diversity, the final policy statements were guided by the parameters established by relevant legislation.”
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees freedom of religion, should be considered relevant legislation, but isn’t mentioned.
There are those who argue that Canada was founded on Christian principles and that the majority of the population is still Christian. This is true, but the Canada of 2011 is still very different from the Canada of our founders.
There is sentiment among the parents who support the prayer that a few newcomers have come into the school and are demanding a change to a practice that is rooted in tradition. It’s understandable that these parents would feel this way and be upset by it. However, at some point the realization must set in that demanding a Christian prayer in a public school runs counter to the board’s goal of “maintenance of inclusive environments in its schools.”
The board’s decision means that the prayer debate will come down to majority rules. Some believe that this is how it should be. This is democracy, after all. However, majority opinion isn’t necessarily a valid barometer of right and wrong. That’s why we have human rights legislation, to ensure that those in the minority have the same rights as those in the majority.
While this decision is being promoted as a move to be inclusive and responsive, it’s actually displaying a lack of leadership. It will allow a public school to continue to act as a de facto Christian school, until some brave parent takes one for the team and launches a Charter challenge.
In the meantime, non-believing parents who live within the school’s catchment area have three options: suspend their beliefs and subject their children to the unbelieved prayer, opt out and risk having their children feel like outsiders, or switch to the St. Albert separate (Protestant) school system in order to access a non-religious environment that the Sturgeon public division refuses to provide.
