Lisa Johnson - Tuesday
In its first annual general meeting under the leadership of Premier Danielle Smith this weekend, Alberta’s United Conservative Party will debate 20 policy resolutions, including one that aims to push back against anti-racist education efforts.
The event is set to kick off Friday at River Cree Resort in Enoch, just west of Edmonton, with Smith to give a speech Saturday at 1 p.m. and members debating and voting on the resolutions in the afternoon.
One resolution drafted by the party’s Edmonton West-Henday riding association aims to ban the instruction of several related concepts, “whether it is advanced under the title of so called critical race theory, intersectionality, anti-racism, diversity and inclusion or some other name.”
It calls for a “halt” to what it calls differential treatment due to ethnic heritage, and “any student being taught that by reason of their ethnic heritage they are privileged, they are inherently racist or they bear historic guilt due to said ethnic heritage or that all of society is a racist system.”
The resolution’s rationale points to an incident in 2021, when Edmonton’s public school division reported what it described as a “hate-filled” social media account to city police. The account used Strathcona High School’s name and images, and called for an end to “anti-white racism.”
At the time, Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) chairwoman Trisha Estabrooks said it demonstrated the need for anti-racism education, but the resolution argues that public education shouldn’t be ideological or focused on promoting a political message to students.
Even if a policy resolution is passed through a membership vote Saturday, it’s not guaranteed to become government policy.
Bridget Stirling, a former EPSB trustee now completing a PhD in education policy at the University of Alberta, told Postmedia Tuesday the UCP proposal is still concerning, in part because if it becomes policy it would have a “chilling” effect on teachers, who might avoid discussions about racism out of fear they’ll say the wrong thing.
“Teachers will become afraid to talk about Martin Luther King, they’ll become afraid to talk about the Civil Rights Movement, the history of slavery … in Canada, you can see that leading to teachers who already are reluctant to speak about residential schools,” said Stirling, adding that critical race theory isn’t taught in K-12 classrooms, nor is she aware of students being taught that they are inherently racist.
“I think a lot of students are much more conscious of issues of racism and discrimination than students were 20 years ago. It doesn’t equate to students hating themselves. It means students are more aware of their social relations,” said Stirling.
The Edmonton West-Henday UCP constituency association did not immediately respond to a request from Postmedia for comment.
Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt told Postmedia there is a big gap between an election platform and party resolutions, and an even bigger gap between a government’s policy changes and recommendations from a party.
“That being said, it is an insight into what the grassroots members of the UCP think.”
Another proposed policy from Airdrie East calls for the party to “uphold the rights of parents and caregivers so as not to require them to affirm or socially condition a child in a gender identity that is incongruent with the child’s birth sex,” arguing that barring evidence of criminal neglect or abuse, parents are best suited to guide their child’s development.
A resolution from Calgary-Klein argues the party should establish legal requirements for the government to consult with stakeholders and the public before enacting “significant” legislation, arguing the UCP government has shown a lack of communication.
“There have been noteworthy bill and policy mistakes and walk-backs,” the rationale reads, pointing to past controversies and policy reversals on insulin pumps , traffic court , the K-12 education curriculum , coal licensing , and provincial parks .
On Saturday, party members will also vote to fill nine board positions.
lijohnson@postmedia.com
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