The Alberta Teachers’ Association

In an online news forum held shortly after her election as Progressive Conservative leader, Alison Redford mused about amending the Alberta Human Rights Act to reverse the education-related changes of Bill 44, which amended the act (in Section 11.1) to impose an obligation on school boards to notify parents in advance when “courses of study, educational programs or instructional materials, or instruction or exercises, prescribed under [the School Act] include subject matter that deals primarily and explicitly with ­religion, human sexuality or sexual orientation.”

In response to a question about Bill 44, mentioned in the context of some recent suicides of gay teens, Redford said, “It concerns me that we could have kids in school who are not getting the info and support they need to have to live healthy lives. We can’t have policies that harm kids.” She added that her government would review the policy.

In May 2009, at the time Bill 44 was passed, groups representing parents, trustees and school superintendents joined the Alberta Teachers’ Association in condemning the legislation and calling for the bill to be abandoned. Their concerns centred mostly on the requirements to provide advance notification to parents before discussing ­religion, human sexuality or sexual orientation in class and on the potential for a teacher to be called to appear before a human rights tribunal because one of these topics was raised incidentally in class.

At the time, the president of the Alberta School Councils’ Association, Marilyn Sheptycki, noted that the School Act already contained notification requirements and suggested that changes to human rights legislation were unnecessary. “Most parents are not looking to drag teachers or school boards before the Alberta Human Rights Commission,” she said. “Most parents are looking for common sense to prevail.”

Bill 44 came into effect on September 1, 2010, and the interpretation of it was first outlined in the 2010/11 Guide to Education. The Department of Education stated that the legislation was not intended to disrupt instruction or stymie the discussion of controversial issues in the classroom, and acknowledged that teachers and schools were effectively managing parental concerns relating to religion, sexuality and sexual orientation long before the passage of the controversial law. The Guide outlined the courses that were affected by the law and those that were excluded, but it did not provide a great deal of clarity with respect to learning resources. The Guide also emphasized that the legislation does not apply to incidental references or attempts by teachers to deal with behaviour or disciplinary issues related to religion, sexuality or sexual orientation.

Generally, the government message to teachers aligns with the advice given by the Association—teachers should not allow the legislation to exert a chilling effect on their classroom practice. Rather, teachers should continue to exercise their professional judgment and common sense when dealing with materials or content that could offend a parent’s moral or religious sensibilities.

The implementation of Bill 44 seems to have had little effect on most classroom teachers. In any case, if there were disputes, there is a clear resolution procedure in place: attempts to resolve disputes are first handled by the teacher, then the principal then the school board before finally going to the Alberta Human Rights Commission. At this point, no complaints have gone to that level. Further statements from Redford on when or how the legislation might be reviewed have not been issued.