Yeeesh. What a week.
Much municipal news this week was actually created by the United Conservative Party government as it released its revised curriculum and reaction spread across social media. Not to be outdone, Alberta’s minister of justice added some thoughts to how municipalities police themselves.
And then there was some April Fool’s Day municipal dumbness.
Here’s a round-up.
Municipal Fightback Against Curriculum
Unlike the Ever Given in the Suez Canal, Alberta’s school curriculum remains firmly stuck — in ideology and politics.
"It's deeply disappointing," David Scott, an associate professor of education at the University of Calgary's Werklund School of Education, told CTV Calgary, when asked about the draft kindergarten to grade 6 curriculum, released earlier this week.
But what does all this have to do with municipal politics and the elections in October? Well, one Edmonton Public Schools trustee, who’s now running for Edmonton’s council, is now offering workshops on becoming a school trustee.
School boards are one of Alberta’s oldest democratic institutions. According the Alberta Teachers’ Association, locally elected boards have provided oversight on education in the province since the late 1800s (Alberta didn’t become a province until 1905, remember).
Trustees in the school system set policy, interact with the public on their concerns and priorities about education, and lobby the government after this engagement.
Another EPSB trustee, Bridget Stirling, tweeted to parents who were feeling frustrated and angry about what steps they could take.
In a follow-up call to Rage Against the Municipal, Stirling said parents can participate in the curriculum review process.
“They can also do letter writing campaigns, or phone and ask for meetings with MLAs. We have already seen parents organizing for protests.
“I’ve heard people discuss things like disrupting events. Harder during COVID, but possible. Rallies and marches are also an option,” Stirling said.
A Facebook group, ‘Albertans Against the New Curriculum,’ has more than 22,000 members.
Support Our Students (SOS) is also an organization that parents are turning to for information about the curriculum as well as the spread of COVID-19.
Parents are also taking to Twitter to voice their displeasure.
At press time, the Edmonton Catholic School Board, Edmonton Public School and Elk Island Public School Board have announced they will not voluntarily participate in a pilot of the new curriculum.
In the past, EPSB was enthusiastic about implementing pilots and had begun the process of preparing including a PD Day at the Shaw Conference Centre.
The piloting of the new curriculum is a voluntary program, but once implemented, all schools fully funded by the public, including Catholic and charter schools, would have to comply with the new curriculum.
It was Trans Day of Visibility on March 31
Policing the Municipal
Recently, Justice Minister Kaycee Madu threatened Lethbridge’s mayor, police chief and police commission chair that he would use the “extraordinary authorities” given to him through the Police Act if the trio didn’t create a plan to restore pubic trust in that city's police service.
Some may not understand how powerful the justice minister is when it comes to municipal policing in Alberta. Here’s a quick lesson.
Section 30 of the Police Act states that when a municipality is responsible for providing and maintaining policing services, and it is found that they are not maintaining effective or adequate services, that the minister of justice can:
appoint police officers for that municipality and prescribe their remuneration;
request the provincial police service to provide policing services to the municipality on an interim basis, or;
do any other thing necessary to create an adequate and effective police service within the municipality.
Madu’s interest in municipal policing does not end in Lethbridge, however. This week, the justice minister took issue with a temporary committee of Edmonton City Council, the Community Safety and Well-Being Task Force, which released a report on policing in the city.
The task-force was assembled after a public hearing, where a staggering 142 people weighed in on issues of racism and policing in the city. The group’s 59-page report, “Safer for All,” has 13 recommendations, one of which is a freeze to police funding.
The report identifies systemic challenges. For example, 32 per cent of calls that police attend do not involve crime but instead involve homelessness or mental health challenges.
Madu, however, isn’t having it.
The report suggests the inclusivity and anti-racism training for the police service is insufficient due to its optional or ad-hoc nature.
Marni Panas, who’s a member of the task force and also sits on the EPS sexual and gender liaison committee, has raised concerns in the past about the treatment of herself and a friend — after a call to the police led to her being repeatedly misgendered and a police dispatcher allegedly assuming her friend was a sex worker.
Panas continues to draw attention to policing issues in the city.
Why April Fool’s Day Needs to Die
At least 50 per cent of Rage Against the Municipal has never enjoyed April Fool’s Day. Why? It’s the day where people take to social media to say dumb things.
This week’s municipal winner has to be the community of St. Albert Facebook page. Whoever wrote this thought it would be funny, in the middle of a pandemic, where COVID-19 variants are causing infections to soar, to post about Alberta acquiring enough vaccines for all its citizens.
But Hahah! April Fool’s, suckers, you have to all continue staying home and miss another meaningful holiday you would spend with your family.
Hilarious!