JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TO STAND UP FOR PARENTAL RIGHTS

Raising children is first and foremost a parental responsibility. Though I don't agree with everything the Alberta Parents Union stands for, I do appreciate their communicating what they perceive to be of importance and interest to parents.

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TO STAND UP FOR PARENTAL RIGHTS

Premier Danielle Smith has announced that amendments to the Alberta Bill of Rights are coming with the beginning of the new session, and she has asked for feedback on what those changes should be.The Premier has already promised to add enhanced rights regarding property, medical decisions, and firearms.

She has stated that these rights should be enshrined in Alberta’s Bill of Rights because they, in particular, have been targeted by governments recently and need reaffirmation as fundamental rights of Albertans.

By that same standard, we believe it is fair to say that governments at every level have recently shown extreme disrespect for parental rights, and recognition and clarification of these rights is therefore necessary and overdue.

That’s why we think it’s vital for the government to include language in their proposal that would strengthen the rights of parents when it comes to their child’s education.

And this email is meant to inform and equip you to give her feedback.

As informed as many of you are, you’re probably already aware that, “the right of parents to make informed decisions respecting the education of their children” is already in the Alberta Bill of Rights - Section 1(g).

If you did already realize that, congratulations, you are better informed than a great number of academics, politicians, and activists.

We discussed their denials in a previous email - now available on our website - entitled “Yes, Parental Rights Exist!”

But even if the Alberta Bill of Rights said no such thing, parental rights pre-exist government.

Governments were established to protect these fundamental rights and to establish justice - the preservation of other rights - when they come into conflict.

But because governments themselves often threaten these fundamental rights, parental rights are essential to protect children from the overreaching state.

Families, under the authority of parents, also protect children from other predators lying in wait against their life, liberty, property, or future enjoyment of these.

Thus, parents’ rights are how you protect children's rights.

Other responsible adults are necessary as a safety-net for children whose family is not that first line of defense.

But when they usurp that fundamental role instead of back-stopping it, disorder only deepens.

This is why the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, when enshrining language rights in education, recognizes parents of language minorities as the defenders of those rights.

Likewise, among the over 2,500 court decisions mentioning parental rights are a number seeing that Section 2 of the Charter means parents have the constitutional right to determine all aspects of their children’s education, including choosing a religious education.

By our count, there are 90 different Canadian laws that either mention parental rights explicitly or use an equivalent phrase.

These add to the weight of seeing parents as the first and most reliable defenders of children’s rights and futures.

You may have heard about efforts already being made by a group with twenty-two points they would like to see included.

The rest of their points are outside the scope of our mandate here at the Alberta Parents’ Union, but point number four reads as follows:

“Freedom of parents to make decisions concerning the health, education, welfare and upbringing of their children”

While that may, at first, seem too broad to protect only a parents’ right to direct their child’s education, we have seen attempts to assert that squarely educational matters, addressed in schools, are actually about the child’s health, welfare, social-emotional development, or some other broader category of their upbringing.

So the breadth is likely essential to protect even core educational oversight.

Furthermore, our friends at The Irreplaceable Parent Project (TIPP) included the following language in the proposed revisions:

The Government of Alberta, on behalf of its citizens, acknowledges that the freedom of parents to raise their children is sui generis - independent from legislation, not flowing from it – as it precedes government. It is a government’s duty to respect that familial boundary until children reach the age of majority. Parents have an obligation to provide for the basic health, education and welfare of their child as they exercise parental custody and authority. The state shall not target parents nor interfere with parental freedoms on the basis of religious or social standing, nor on the basis of fiscal status provided that parents are demonstrably providing for the necessities of their children.

No officer or agency of the government, including any subdivisions, shall infringe on a parent’s freedoms except as demonstrably necessary on a case-by-case basis as provided by law, such steps to be narrowly tailored to meet a compelling government interest by the least restrictive means. Remedial provisions shall be provided for the intentional interference of parental freedoms by governments, organizations or individuals. Family is in the best interests of a child.

These are just some ideas to get you thinking about this important issue.

We encourage you to make your own points and argue your own convictions.

But we hope this email helps you think through some of the issues you want to raise.

The most important thing is just that you get involved in the campaign to stand up for parental rights.

You can give feedback to Premier Smith at: premier@gov.ab.ca

She explicitly asked for broader feedback into her upcoming gender identity policies and announced these changes to the Alberta Bill of Rights, also asking for feedback, all in the last two weeks.

Also, contact your own MLA!

They are the person most directly responsible to you.

They are the person you are empowered to remove at regularly scheduled elections or through recall.

You can find your MLA and their contact information using the “Who is my MLA?” tool on Elections Alberta’s website.

Alberta has long led the way on recognizing parental rights to choose the education of our children.

That fundamental right which pre-exists any government is enshrined in our existing Bill of Rights.

Not only that, but we have led the way in recognizing that right implies that money should follow the child to the education the parents choose.

Without that money following the child, the government truly is putting a thumb on the scale to coerce the choices they choose to allow our tax dollars to fund.

Premier Smith has even recognized that construction funding following the children is a logical extension of recognizing this fundamental freedom.

Now it's time to recognize that parents, not politicians, and families, not functionaries, protect children best from a dangerous world.

For Parents over Politicians,

-Jeff and the Alberta Parents’ Union Team

P.S. When governments chip away at parental rights, they do so with money they took from you by force.

The same goes for anti-parent activists they fund, and even the Alberta Teachers’ Association - which takes dues by the force of law from anyone who wants to teach in the public system and frequently uses them to oppose parents.

The Alberta Parents’ Union has never taken taxpayer money or forced anyone to fund our advocacy in any way.

We never will.

We rely on parents, grandparents, educators, and taxpayers like you who want to make sure there’s someone there to stand for parents’ rights.