By Luke Fevin
As I slowly learn more about this crazy education system of ours in Alberta, sometimes there are moments of clarity where the fog lifts and the madness is truly self-evident. Let me try to share a moment with you.
I live in one of the best places in Canada to raise a family and in St. Albert; I pay the taxes to prove it. So what are my education options for my 3 young children in one of the wealthiest and most highly taxed communities in Canada?
My public school division is Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools (GSACRD - pronounced G-Sacred, really). The problem is not only do these schools permeate Catholicism (which is not really for me), they actually require that I sign a form saying I understand that Catholicism fully permeates all of the divisions schools teaching – and even though it is my public school division, and it is unconstitutional, I am not allowed to opt my children out of the religious indoctrination.
(Yes GSACRD, the School Act applies to you the same as all other schools. You get to do the Lords Prayer and 30 minutes religious instruction at the end of the day. You are not special and have been openly flouting the law and, as per the legislation, your failure to meet these requirements will cause your “office to be void” – or it would if Alberta’s Education Ministers weren’t either staunch Catholics or “void” in the cojones department.) Continue reading »
