Foundation News
The child’s right to an education focus of event dissecting Bill 44 parental opt-out
November 19, 2009
Calgary—“The child’s right to an education: Bill 44 re-visited from a broader perspective” will be the subject of a panel discussion at the University of Calgary on November 26, 2009.
The panel discussion marks International Human Rights Day (Dec. 10) and the 20th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Nov. 20), and is sponsored by the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre and the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership.
Panelists:
- Linda McKay-Panos, Executive Director, Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre
- Paula Simons, Columnist, Edmonton Journal
- Susan Creelman, a parent opposed to the parental opt-out provision of Bill 44
- Katherine, Andrea and Austin Creelman, creators of Students Against Bill 44
Speakers will address:
1. A child’s right to a good education
2. The public interest in well-educated citizens
3. How does parental control figure into this equation?
4. What do young Albertans have to say on their right to an education?
Under section 9 of Bill 44 school officials must give parents advance notice “where courses of study, educational programs or instructional materials, or instruction, or exercises … include subject-matter that deals primarily and explicitly with religion, human sexuality or sexual orientation.” Parents, upon notification that their children will be exposed to such material, can opt to pull them out of such lessons “without academic penalty.” If notice is not given, parents can file a complaint with the human rights commission. The provision is scheduled to come into force on September 1, 2010.
The Honourable David Blair Mason, Q.C., Chief Commissioner of the Alberta Human Rights Commission will bring greetings from the AHRC.
Janet Keeping, President, Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, will moderate the event and present the 2009 Civil Liberties Award on behalf of the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre to Paula Simons for her incisive writing on Bill 44 and other human rights issues.
WHEN: Thursday, November 26, 2009, 12 – 2 pm
For more information:
Dan Shapiro
403-244-6666
Background:
- Event poster
- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Relegate human rights provision to dustbin of history, September 7, 2009
- Amendments to Bill 44 worsen a bad bill, May 29, 2009
- Back to the drawing-board for Bill 44, says Sheldon Chumir Ethics Foundation, May 8, 2009
- Proposed Amendments to Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act Off the Mark, May 6, 2009
- Human rights changes leave Albertans speechless, May 4, 2009
- Proposed human rights legislation deeply flawed, says Sheldon Chumir Ethics Foundation, May 4, 2009
- Proposed human rights amendment a slippery slope to administrative and legal chaos, April 14, 2009
- Half-baked human rights ideas can lead to full-blown chaos, April 13, 2009
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