In his novel, "Plague Journal",
Michael D. O'Brien has much to say on the topic of our eroding
democracy in the Western world. With his permission to quote, here is a
pertinent passage.
"Granted, every person in every era
has felt his own times to be normal. Our times, too, are normal. As in
every other era during that short passage from pre-history to the
present, we cling desperately to normality. When events become more
and more extreme, the temptation grows to bury ourselves in escapist
dreams or in the distractions of comfort. The critical faculty is
lulled to sleep."
Hmmm. This reminds me of the email response from your office which
was sent out to those who contacted you concerning Bill 24. It was the
sort of response that was intended to lull the reader to sleep. The
overtone was that you have it all under control. New cases of bullying
and hurt will not crop up. You said, "Our government remains committed
to supporting our students. We know that supportive environments make
school a more positive place for all students, regardless of their
sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity." Based on
these broad, positive statements, I should be able to fall asleep and
rest peacefully.
But....as the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has pointed
out earlier this year, we need to wake up. There is still reason to be
vigilant in terms of how these ideas specifically manifest themselves
in our schools. When we found out that the GSA websites (which all
students had access to) were linked to sexually graphic content, we were
disturbed. How did those under your watch have such poor judgement? Mr Eggen, is Kris Wells [the one who created the websites for Alberta GSAs] still at the helm? If so, does he have supervision? This is distressing. It is a wake up call. But, back to O'Brien:
"To stay awake and watch demands energy and the willingness to
persist in a state of chronic tension. It's so much easier to be
'positive', to trust in what our leaders tell us. Optimism eliminates
many problems, though much that is human dies slowly within us, with
hardly a protest."
In a gracious but blunt manner, we need to protest some of what
you are implementing, Mr Eggen. In these times, a person of faith simply cannot be blindly optimistic and trusting. If GSAs are now mandated to be
available in Catholic schools, or any faith-based school, you must ensure that
nothing about them stands in contradiction to Catholic [or faith-based] teaching. Why?
Because educating children in a school of faith is a constitutional
right. Sorry, the fact that these same schools are funded by government
money does not mean that you, as a government employee, get to dictate what happens there.
I will be writing some letters in the future that highlight the
impressive accomplishments of some of these boards. It is already
clear, they do not need coaching from the provincial ministry of
education to know how to love and serve each other and their wider
communities.
Thank you for your consideration.
God bless you and your wife and daughters!
Catherine van Kampen
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