Lindsay Blackett says the province will likely make a long-awaited change to Alberta’s human rights law and spell out sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination. “We’d look very, very foolish… if we said no, we wouldn’t do that,” says Blackett. (Sexual orientation is already “read in” to the law because of a Supreme Court decision, but isn’t articulated in the law itself.)
The revamped law may also spell out parents’ rights to exempt their kids from classes that go against their beliefs, including classes on sexual orientation. “The talk was — and none of this has been finalized — that a parent has a right to choose,” says Blackett. The School Act already allows parents to opt their kids out of certain classes, and Blackett says changing the human rights law to include that right would be “more symbolic” than anything.
“Wait and see what we come up with and then judge us based on what we end up coming up with,” says Blackett, adding he hopes to see proposed changes rolled out in the spring legislative session.
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