[afransen]

I think you mean to say: Alberta doesn't have a functioning democracy and is run by the cabal surrounding the premier.

 

[unimaginative2]

I also can't resist mentionning that the province's secondary education system as demonstrated through strandardized testing far exceeds that of almighty Ontario.

You corrected demonstrated, but your almighty Alberta education still missed strandardized and mentionning...

 

[Brian69]

I also can't resist mentionning that the province's secondary education system as demonstrated through strandardized testing far exceeds that of almighty Ontario.

At the risk of piling on, I must add the Alberta educational system doesn't deal with hundred of thousands of ESL students who must write the standardized tests while having a diminished ability in understanding what they are reading and writing about, the result of almighty Ontario taking in far more non-English speaking immigrants over the past 20 years.

 

[kEiThZ]

At the risk of being politically incorrect...

I don't think the comparison to parental attitudes on the holocaust is fair. Like it or not, for some parents, matters of sexuality are tied into their practice of religion, and they will generally seek to impart those values to their children. Unless we are willing to regulate what values parent's impart, we have to accept that it takes time to bring about social change. We've only just made same-sex marriage legal. You can't expect that folks all over the country will all of a sudden be champions of LBGT rights. There will be parents from every class, faith and skin colour who will be sensitive to having their kids learn about homosexuality from a school teacher.

What I am curious about is why a law is needed to this effect. We have schools that make accommodations everywhere else in the country without the need for intervening legislation. What made this situation different?

 

[afransen]

There's a gulf of difference between being champions of LGBT rights and merely allowing their children to learn about homosexuality in a classroom. Are they afraid their kids are going to catch the gay or that their kids might start questioning the hatefulness of their religion toward these minorities?

 

[urbandreamer]

Re: Alberta: I agree. In fact, similar policy already happens in many Ontario public schools. For example, in Waterloo and Perth Counties where many mennonites send their children to public schools (Floradale, Linwood, Milverton, Listowel, Wellesley, Mornington Township Public Schools come to mind) conservative mennonites can opt out of many classes/school programs etc. Nothing harmless about it, especially when most kids--even horse and buggy Mennonites!--have access to the internet (in their dad's barns!) (And the K-W Record.)

I've met ppl from small town Toronto--Forest Hill Villagers that I know, for example--that are just as anti-gay as a blacksmith I know in Milverton Ontario.