FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FROM THE ASSOCIATION FOR REFORMED POLITICAL ACTION (ARPA) CANADA

April 12, 2017

Christian Advocacy Group Welcomes Province-wide Investigation of Third Party Influences in Alberta Schools 

EDMONTON – The Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada applauds the call for an inquiry into what students of Alberta schools are exposed to. “The sad truth is that Alberta’s Ministry of Education is the party most guilty of promoting propaganda in provincial schools,” commented ARPA Canada’s Executive Director Mark Penninga.

Accessing Information not Myths (AIM), an Alberta-based activist group, is calling for a province-wide investigation in light of a presentation made about abortion in a Roman Catholic school in Red Deer. Education Minister David Eggen was quick to chime in, expressing regret that the province’s “excellent filters didn’t catch something like this.” Eggen added, “I think it’s a good reminder to everybody to be vigilant and to ensure this sort of hateful propaganda doesn’t infiltrate our schools.”

ARPA Canada notes that an inquiry into what is being taught to, and even forced on, Alberta students is exactly what ARPA Canada has advocated for, though Minister Eggen has been most unreceptive.

“We have been working with hundreds of Albertans over the past year who are concerned about how the Minister of Education has been forcing their schools to promote a radical gender ideology that is unscientific, full of misinformation and harmful,” explained Penninga. “Instead of showing even an ounce of regard for these concerned parents, the Minister ploughed ahead with his agenda and his secretive efforts to revamp the entire education system using “experts” that he refuses to make public.”

As reporter Ted Byfield has exposed, Minister Eggen refuses to disclose crucial information about who is behind what even he calls the most sweeping reform of the school curriculum ever undertaken in the province. Freedom of Information requests are also denied. The minister absolutely refuses to share the names of the 300-400 “experts” who are making these radical changes.

“It doesn’t stop there,” Penninga continues, “Just weeks ago the blog Informed Albertans detailed how the Alberta government is funding and promoting a website that delivers sexually graphic content, including images of naked men and recommendations for how to use BDSM products. This sexually abusive and pornographic content was linked to on the Alberta GSA Network website to ‘help K-12 children with their Gay-Straight Alliance.’” added Penninga.

“It is ironic that Minister Eggen and AIM call the pro-life presentation hateful and inaccurate,” Penninga added. “No evidence is produced to support this. The sciences unequivocally prove that human life starts at conception. If the Minister wants the scientific facts taught in Alberta schools, we welcome it, because it would only further the pro-life cause,” Penninga concluded.

ARPA Canada lawyer André Schutten also noted that the Minister’s comments are constitutionally inappropriate. “This is not the first time Minister Eggen seems to think he stands above the Canadian constitution,” Schutten noted. “The Charter of Rights protects our fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, religion, and association. The young lady at the centre of this controversy was delivering a factual and respectful presentation, at the request of the school. Mr. Eggen and the activists at AIM may have different views about abortion, but that does not give them the right to censor all views they don’t like.”

Schutten went further. “The Charter exists to protect citizens from the heavy hand of the state. What Mr. Eggen is implying here – that he can snuff out a pro-life presentation like this – is borderline illegal. If he continues in this direction he can expect court challenges from our organization and others like it.”

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