Alberta Tag

09 May 2018 Opposition in Alberta refuses to oppose abortion bubble zone bill, choosing to literally walk away from the debate

By Lighthouse News A law to restrict speech, persuasion, and protests near abortion clinics in Alberta continues to move through the legislature. Bill 9 received second reading last week. Not only will the bill substantially interfere with freedom of expression of pro-lifers, it will obliterate the opportunity for any alternative help for pregnant women. Alberta’s opposition United Conservative Party is following through on a pledge not to vote on the proposal - either for or against. Leader Jason Kenney has labelled it a piece of "political mischief" from the governing NDP, designed to distract...

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12 Apr 2018 An Open Letter of Encouragement to Alberta’s Honorable Leader of the Opposition

ARPA Canada routinely asks for you, our supporters, to submit respectful letters to our elected representatives. Every once in a while we see a fantastic example of winsome, principled, and respectful engagement. Below is one such example. Dear Mr. Kenney, I hope this message finds you well. It is with some trepidation that I write to you on the subject of your abstention from the NDP’s abortion clinic bubble zone Bill. Though I balk at the thought of sidestepping the opportunity to publicly question and critique such a law, your appraisal of the politics...

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11 Apr 2018 Alberta bill blocking info on student activities from parents will be challenged in court

by Lighthouse News The Alberta government is facing a lawsuit over Bill 24. That’s the law - passed late last year - which expressly forbids school teachers, principals, or other school employees from telling parents about whether their own children join so-called "gay-straight alliance clubs". The government claimed at the time that the prohibition is about “protecting children from abusive parents”. But now, a group of 24 religious schools, eight parents and a pair of non-profit groups have launched a constitutional challenge of the law. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announced...

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10 Apr 2018 Alberta government introduces bill to censor pro-life expression

Take Action: Send an EasyMail letter to share your concerns with your MLA   On April 5, the Alberta government introduced Bill 9: Protecting Choice for Women Accessing Health Care Act. The bill would create “access zones” around abortion clinics in which it would be illegal to attempt to persuade someone not to get an abortion, to attempt to inform someone about issues related to abortion or alternatives to abortion, or to merely express disapproval of abortion in any way. Beyond “access zones”, the bill makes it an offence to “persistently request" someone not to provide...

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21 Nov 2017 Can we consider our political action a success or a failure?

ARPA's Executive Director, Mark Penninga Bill 24 passed by a count of 42 in favour, and 23 opposed. (You can see a tally of the vote count here). The 42 who were in favour included 38 NDP members, along with some independents and others. But 16 NDP members, comprising almost a third of the governing NDP caucus, didn't show up for the vote.  ARPA Executive Director Mark Penninga says it's clear the EasyMails had an impact. "We don't know if (they) had a direct impact on whether NDP MLA's actually showed...

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21 Nov 2017 A legal challenge to the passage of Bill 24

Lawyer John Carpay for the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms Bill 24, the "Act to Protect Gay Straight Alliances" in Alberta, passed third reading in the legislature last week. This is the Bill that would, among other things, make it illegal for schools to inform parents if their children had joined a so-called "Gay Straight Alliance" - a school club ostensibly set up to support gay students or those struggling with gender identity issues. Just hours before the final vote, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Reforms in Calgary announced that if the...

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21 Nov 2017 ARPA Grassroots Activates to oppose Bill 24

ARPA Canada Grassroots Manager, Colin Postma ARPA did a lot of citizen engagement on Bill 24. Grassroots Manager Colin Postma says with the quick turn-around on the bill - less than 3 weeks from its first introduction to final passage - a lot of work had to get done very quickly. "We had a conference call the day after the bill was introduced, and put a bit of a plan together. We ran a significant number of Facebook and Social Media ads that went out and reached a couple of hundred...

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15 Nov 2017 Update: Bill 24 threatens parental rights in Alberta

Bill 24 threatens parental rights in Alberta **UPDATE** Bill 24 has since passed through the Alberta Legislature. JCCF has announced they will be initiating a legal challenge to Bill 24 soon. *** Bill 24 creates an environment that assumes parents are a detriment to the wellbeing of their own children. Bill 24 also threatens to shut down Christian schools, and other faith-based schools by mandating things that people of faith simply cannot do. How can parents instruct their children according to their faith convictions if others are keeping information about their children...

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14 Nov 2017 LN Feature: Crunch time on Bill 24

Rachel Notley, Premier of Alberta ARPA Canada lawyer, John Sikkema Mike Schouten, Director of Advocacy Alberta's Bill 24 is the topic for our feature today. The Alberta Legislature is set to resume committee hearings today on Bill 24, called an "Act to Protect Gay Straight Alliances". ARPA has launched a major initiative to oppose this bill, including phone calls and EasyMails. On the feature today, ARPA lawyer John Sikkema and Mike Schouten. They've both been doing a lot of work on this file in the past week. ------- LN: John, I want to start with you...

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07 Nov 2017 Your kids’ teachers could legally keep you in the dark

Donna Trimble Alberta Education Minister David Eggen has tabled long-expected amendments to the province's Education Act. Among other things, Bill 24, which is entitled "An Act to Protect Gay-Straight Alliances", will make it a crime for schools to inform parents if children are struggling with issues of sexual identity, or if they have chosen to join a so-called Gay-Straight Alliance Club at their school, unless children give their explicit consent. Donna Trimble from the group "Parents for Choice in Education" says the new rules are pretty egregious, because there are virtually...

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