Skip to content

MLA Westhead supports totalitarian attack on Christian schools

Education Minister David Eggen through his dictums has placed unreasonable demands upon independent schools to comply with the School Act as altered by Bill 24.

Education Minister David Eggen through his dictums has placed unreasonable demands upon independent schools to comply with the School Act as altered by Bill 24. I am particularly alarmed that with respect to their internal policies regarding ‘Safe and Caring’ schools, Christian schools have recently been advised, for example, to remove references to the Lord as the true source of wisdom; that men and women were created in the image of God, after his likeness, and therefore have transcendent, intrinsic worth; that Scripture is the infallible Word of God, and that the mere reference to the word “truth” is unacceptable because it isn’t diverse enough! All of such objections by Alberta Education to such faith-based statements can lead to a school being defunded and shut down if they don’t comply with Minister Eggen’s coercive ultimatums to remove the same. As noted by lawyer John Carpay with the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedom, “This is a naked and aggressive attack against the Charter rights and freedoms of every citizen, and designed to intimidate schools which are now asserting their Charter rights in court. These bullying tactics are what you would expect in a repressive third-world dictatorship, not in a functioning democracy that respects the rule of law”. On November 14th, Minister Eggen upped the ante by issuing a Ministerial Order demanding that the schools scrap their so-called ‘non-compliant’, faith-based policies and replace them with a Ministry prescribed policy adhering to his personal perspective and ideology. In light of this shocking development, in late September and again in early October, I sent emails to our MLA Cam Westhead requesting that he stand up for our fundamental freedoms by petitioning Minister Eggen to retract such totalitarian demands upon Christian schools and continue to allow parents in Christian schools to exercise their fundamental freedoms in sharing their religious beliefs with their children. You don’t have to be a Christian to understand the serious implications of these totalitarian actions by the Minister of Education. One is reminded of “First they came for ….”, a poem written by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps. The poem ends with the chilling line, “Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me”, implicating those who had been complicit through their silence. Last week I received a reply from Mr. Westhead to my voiced concerns, revealing where he stands on this matter. According to Mr. Westhead, “School authorities must publicly post the Ministerial Order and standard policy in a prominent location on their website homepage”. Disappointingly, he basically endorses and supports such totalitarian actions taken by Education Minister Eggen. Ron Voss

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks