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Loading ...Alberta is last Canadian province to enshrine gay rights
04.30.2009 1:16pm EDT
(Edmonton, Alberta) Alberta has introduced legislation that critics say will make it the last province in Canada to enshrine gay rights in its human rights code.
New Democratic Party Leader Brian Mason says it’s shameful that Alberta had to be dragged by the courts to make this change, which has already been in place for many years in some provinces.“They have been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century by the courts,” Mason said.
Alberta lost a high-profile court battle over this issue a decade ago and was then ordered by the Supreme Court of Canada to add sexual orientation to the human rights code.
But there’s a controversial twist to the legislation introduced Tuesday by Alberta’s Progressive Conservative government to settle this long-standing battle over gay rights.
The Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Amendment Act will also give parents the right to exclude their kids from parts of the education curriculum that they don’t agree with, including anything to do with same-sex relationships.
Premier Ed Stelmach concedes this opting-out provision could be used to pull students out of classes dealing with evolution if parents preferred their kids be taught what’s in the Bible instead.
“The parents would have the opportunity to make that choice,” said the premier. “The discussion among the caucus was that … parents would make the best choice for their children.”
Liberal human rights critic Laurie Blakeman said this threatens to fracture the system if parents start pulling their kids from classes if they don’t agree with what’s being taught.
“I think that the government has opened a huge can of worms with this,” Blakeman said in an interview.
“Do we have students graduating with the same instruction? No we won’t. We will have a complete patchwork.”
“It’s a mess.”
“This surely sounds like it’s coming from someone who is in denial or someone doesn’t follow politics.”
Actually I attend the U of A and am aspiring to be a Social Studies teacher, so I am absolutely aware of Alberta politics. Yes we may be behind other Canadian provinces, but we’re still ahead of 90% of the World in terms of gay rights.
Matt, I’m glad you’ve not experienced any troubles in Edmonton. Generally speaking, neither have we in dealing with the public (save for the few inevitable stares and “ugh, look lesbians” comments, which are par for the course every now and then). But then I have a white straight friend who was dating a black guy, and they were yelled at on several different occasions while walking down Whyte ave hand in hand (the “n” word was used). That’s just the general public in Alberta. As a gay person, try dealing with the gov’t or even some of the larger gov’t supported institutions in the region (prov gov’t, school boards, universities, healthcare agencies, social service agencies, etc)…your gayness will never be mentioned, but it sure does motivate some decisions (moste negative and some grossly weirdly positive – token gay stuff). We’re here ’cause right now with the housing slump we don’t have a choice…but we’re Vancouver bound within 3-4 years – can’t wait to live among progressive people. Whether or not you’ve experienced homophobia here yet (you’re young), the true question when dealing with the straight majority for me has always been: If they were rounding us up, or firing us en masse, who would put themselves on the line to speak out…I’m afraid not many, even of the straight people who count themselves among my friends.
“Unfortunately, many Canadians see Alberta as a backwards province. I’m a 21 and live in Edmonton and feel great pride towards my city and province. There is no fear walking around hand in hand with another guy throughout the city, and none of my gay friends have any interest in leaving Edmonton or Calgary for Vancouver or Toronto. The two big cities in Alberta are gay friendly. Please get over your stereotypes.”
This surely sounds like it’s coming from someone who is in denial or someone doesn’t follow politics.
Did you know Quebec was the first one to include sexual orientation in their “provincial protection” code back in 1970’s? Almost over 30-35 years ago already – just a few years after homosexuality was decriminalized near end of late 60’s.
Interesting enough this writer mentions two biggest cities in the province… what about the remaining 98.3% of other geographical areas of Alberta? Is this truly the ‘majority of province’ (covering many small communities) really being G/L/B/T friendly?
The writer also fails to acknowledge why has the province of the day have been lacking behind in progress of G/L/B/T rights politically?
It would be suicidal to proceed in embracing equality rights which most politicians prefer to hide behind the cloak of “courts” to do their ‘dirty’ work. If the politicans actually were willing to do it on their own without an ‘order’ from the court system then the voters will make them pay for it in upcoming election.
My friend… this is still Alberta we live in. Other provinces… granted… are better today than our province yet these provinces do still have their own problems with G/L/B/T issues too. Mostly these happened during few years ago and all the way back to the day the homosexuality was decriminalized in Canada.
Keep in mind… being a liberal in a generally conservative province is very challenging. We are slowly changing… we’re just not moving like a rabit but as a turtle.
It’s coming.
Matthew, Sherwood Park, 23.
@ matt–I was referring to the province as a whole. Just as the freedom of living in Dallas, Houston or Austin is tempered by the rural-dominated texas legislature, so too are Calgary and (especially) Edmonton two bubbles in an otherwise self-fulfilling stereotype called Alberta. Edmonton is notably NOT like the rest of the province, and many of the new(fie)comers–in places like Wood Buffalo/Fort MacMurray–are no more enlightened than the locals (and quite possibly less so). As for gay life, I wasn’t suggesting that every homo in Alberta should pick up and move to Church and Wellesley, since that’s a tired stereotype in its own right. The stereotype of Alberta wouldn’t be so persistent or resonant if Albertans (outside of Edmonton at least) found somebody to vote into government besides rightwing know-nothings with an unbroken 40-year grip on control. Alberta’s politicians continue down the same, tired, homophobic path, and Stelmach is simply Ralph Klein’s heir (if not equal).
Far as I know, at least in the cities, Alberta law already allows you to send your child to a religious school on the public dime. Pretty sure Edmonton has at least one Christian (not Catholic) high school.
Unfortunately, many Canadians see Alberta as a backwards province. I’m a 21 and live in Edmonton and feel great pride towards my city and province. There is no fear walking around hand in hand with another guy throughout the city, and none of my gay friends have any interest in leaving Edmonton or Calgary for Vancouver or Toronto. The two big cities in Alberta are gay friendly. Please get over your stereotypes.
There should be no opt out provision in the public schools. Parents can send their kids to religious schools if they want them possibly indoctrinated in religious BS left over from thousands of years ago.
But can you imagine one of those kids trying to get a job as an astronomer, to prove that the Sun rotates around the earth, and the world is only 4000 or 6000 years old.
BTw, if you want to break the back of the religious conservatives, what needs to be done is to finish debunking the superstition that the world was created in 6 days and nights, and on the 7th God rested.
And then the rest will be history. The conservative churches disgraced and shown as ignorant followers of superstition.
And mankind will be able to throw off the yoke of ages that has held back progress, and been the creator or supporter of most wars. All to satisfy a power lust by religious egomaniacs.
And yes there are good religions, that look forward to progress, not look back for superstitions to support their power amongst the ash heap wrought by conservative religions over the millenia.
Transgendered persons still have no protection under the Alberta Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act which is inconsistent with other Canadian provinces, and even some States in the US….
I am a gay Canadian originally from Alberta (I now live in Quebec) and am not surprised at this whatsoever. Premier Stelmach (who represents the riding I grew up in) is a perfect example of a rural Albertan: socially conservative and deeply religious. It’s bad enough they had to be forced into recognising gay rights, now they are branching out and destroying the education system as well. No wonder most gay and lesbian teens leave Alberta for safer spaces in cities like Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. I am ashamed to even think that I was born in Alberta.
This does not surprise me in the least to hear this about Alberta. Alberta’s government was one of the very last to embrace same-sex marriage in 2005. It took the Federal Government to change the definition of marriage for the country to get Alberta to begrudgingly change its marriage laws. And too, while I respect a parent’s decision to protect their children with regards to the education they are receiving in the public school system, I also have to question their right to pull their children from classes which deal with such things as same-sex relationships. Same-sex relationships are a fact of life just as opposite sex relationships are and unless parents are prepared to teach all aspects of life to their children at home, then denying such things being taught in school further harbours the fear and intolerance that exists in our society today. Parents must be prepared for the reality that their child possibly will turn out to be gay, would it not be better to educate and become informed as opposed to living a life of fear and passing that fear onto their children by not teaching them all the differences in humanity?
Although the Supreme Court of Canada’s 1998 decision in Vriend v. Alberta had the legal effect of making sexual orientaton a prohibited ground of discrimination in Alberta’s Individual Rights Protection Act (IRPA), not all gay people in Alberta are aware of that. Vriend didn’t fully remedy the pernicious public policy implications of the Legislature’s subsequent refusal to expressly add sexual orientation. The Court’s reasons help articulate why we can now say that the Alberta Legislature’s interminable and inexcusable delay has been abhorrent:
“[T]hat exclusion, deliberately chosen
in the face of clear findings that discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation does exist in society, sends a strong and sinister message. The very fact that sexual orientation is excluded from the IRPA, which is the Government’s primary statement of policy against discrimination, certainly suggests that discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation is not as serious or as deserving of condemnation as other forms of discrimination. It could well be said that it is tantamount to condoning or even encouraging discrimination against lesbians and gay men.”
“The exclusion sends a message to all Albertans that it is permissible, and
perhaps even acceptable, to discriminate against individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation. The effect of that message on gays and lesbians is one whose significance cannot be underestimated. As a practical matter, it tells them that they have no
protection from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation [although, after Vriend, they legally do have redress]. [If unaware of the legal significance of Vriend, they feel] deprived of any legal redress [and feel] they must accept and live in constant fear of discrimination. These are burdens which are not imposed on heterosexuals.”
“Perhaps most important is the psychological harm which may ensue from
this state of affairs. Fear of discrimination will logically lead to concealment of true identity and this must be harmful to personal confidence and self-esteem. Compounding that effect is the implicit message conveyed by the exclusion, that gays and lesbians, unlike other individuals, are not worthy of protection. This is clearly an example of a distinction which demeans the individual and strengthens and perpetrates the view that gays and lesbians are less worthy of protection as individuals in Canada’s society. The potential harm to the dignity and perceived worth of gay and lesbian individuals constitutes a particularly cruel form of discrimination.”
Twenty-five years ago, the Alberta Human Rights Commission first recommended amending Alberta’s Individual Rights Protection Act (IRPA) to
include sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination. The Alberta Legislature, under the persistent sway of religious extremists, has shamefully dragged its heels until now. However, by this late date, the amendments will have important symbolic value, but will not actually change the law in Alberta.
In 1998, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Vriend v. Alberta [accessible on-line at http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1998/1998canlii816/1998canlii816.html ] that the IRPA’s omission of sexual orientation “denies gays and
lesbians the equal benefit and protection of the law”, and so violates equality rights guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. (The Charter is part of Canada’s constitution.)
The Court ruled that, until appropriately amended by the Alberta Legislature, the IRPA legally must be read as if sexual orientation were already included as a prohibited ground of discrimination.
Drewski, it’s not quite accurate to say that “the Charter explicitly guarantees the civil rights of gays”. The term “sexual orientation” does not expressly appear in the Charter. However, in 1995, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Egan v. Canada that sexual orientation is “an analogous ground” of discrimination to those explicitly included in the Charter’s non-exhaustive list. That means that the Charter’s equality provisions are legally read as if sexual orientation were explicitly there.
I live in this backward-**s province and am not surprised by the local conservatives. Having said that, I recently lived in a city in Atlantic Cda where we faced frequent homophobia when dealing with the general public (more than we’ve ever encountered here). Changing laws to guarantee rights is simply a start – it does not guarantee fair, equitable treatment by your fellow Cdns.
Well, people get to pick and choose what parts of the bible that they want to believe so why not carry that a step further and pick and choose what parts of the general curriculum to accept or reject? Why don’t they just set up a “cafeteria plan of education” and let the parents decide what should and should not be taught. To hell with right and wrong and truth versus fiction. As long as they can promulgate their hatred and bigotry, the better of the world will be, in their eyes. Long live hatred, intolerance, bigotry, racism, and pseudo-christianity.
Hmmm…yes, Jonathan, and next you’ll discover that 90% of Americans are too ignorant to find Canada on a map, but why belabor the obvious. While we’re at it, how ’bout I rub some salt in some wounds and remind you that ALL OTHER Canadian provinces and territories have done what Alberta refused to? How ’bout I mention that it was both provincial and Federal courts which established the right to marriage equality? How ’bout I mention that the Charter explicitly guarantees the civil rights of gays? All of these decisions were at least five years ago. Besides all this, Alberta is the part of Canada most likely to be nominated as a gift to the US, because they’re so culturally compatible with bible-thumping homophobic know-nothings.
What? I’m shocked! I thought that all Canadians were open minded and level headed in terms of equal rights and secular reasonability. Instead, we learn that bigotry and ignorance have no national borders.