(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.

“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.”