Canadian Education News

“Stronger legislation” needed to protect kids from Christian home school
According to CBC News: Edmonton, Wisdom Home Schooling, which teaches from grades 2 to 12, is “not registered with or accredited by the provincial government.” Bari Miller, a recent graduate of the Christian home-schooling organization, stated the need for stronger legislation by government.

When Miller attempted to apply to the University of Alberta, she found the transcripts were not accepted. “To me, it was a meaningless, worthless piece of paper,” Miller said. This sparked questions about her instruction at home.

The instruction, including Biblical analysis, prompted Miller to say “I really didn’t learn any science that would be acceptable to a lot of Canadian universities,” she said, “I was told that evolution didn’t happen, and just a lot of things that I think didn’t prepare me for the real world or for university.”

[Alberta Education recently shut down the school.]

Christian Pastor refuses to comply with LGBTQ policies set by Alberta Education Minister
The Barrhead Leader opined that Alberta Education Minister, David Eggen, must not cross lines. Lines associated with the recent decisions by Eggen. Two lines linked to LGBTQ policies in schools and compliance with section 16.1 of the School Act.

The former line happened as Eggen told “schools and school boards that they must have policies” to provide protection for “students identifying themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer (LGBTQ).

Pastor Brian Coldwell, Chair of the Independent Baptist Christian Education Society, did not comply with Eggen. The latter line was ?crossed? with an inquiry launched by Eggen into the Independent Baptist Christian Education Society based on responsibilities to comply under section 16.1 of the School Act.

University of Alberta Professor wants re-education for judges on “Alternative Sexualities”
In addition, LifeSite reports that a professor from the University of Alberta (U of A), Kris Wells, wants to have re-education for judges in diversity and about “alternative sexualities.” This is based on a “custody battle that included two family court rulings,” which prevented “a boy from wearing skirts in public.”

Wells is from the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services at U of A. He is counselling the mother of the five-year-old. The father is against it. Two of three judges support the dad and the third supports the mother and the boy. Wells advocates for anti-bullying policy within schools in Alberta.

“These kinds of decisions shouldn’t be happening, particularly when our human rights legislation has changed,” Wells said, “[Gender identity in Alberta is now grounds for discrimination along with religion, ethnicity, age, sex, etc]. Some of these attitudes need to be challenged and corrected.”

Scott Douglas Jacobsen is an AUSU Councillor. He works with various organizations, and runs In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, and In-Sight Publishing.