Minister salutes Catholic board on gender plan
‘Concrete measures’ should please LGBTQ community, says chair
Edmonton Catholic school board is now leading the initiative to develop a sexual orientation and transgender policy to protect students and teachers, Alberta’s education minister says.
“Edmonton Catholic is actually leading on building policy since we are in such close contact to them,” David Eggen said Wednesday morning after meeting with six of the seven trustees from Edmonton Catholic school board.
“If I look at the 61 boards, they’re the ones that ... demonstrated some of the most progress, most improved, let’s put it that way.”
The board is also working with a provincially appointed adviser to come up with a new governance policy, after several board meetings dissolved into acrimonious debate on the gender identity policy.
“There’s issues to work through. It’s day to day, but everyone wants to improve,” Eggen said.
“They’ve worked through some transgender and LGBTQ policy which looks very good so far. They’ve done it without the animosity and without dissolving into the acrimony that we might have seen before. My facilitator will work with them to put some more concrete governance rules in place so they can move ahead.”
Marilyn Bergstra, chairperson of the Edmonton Catholic board, said the board’s transgender policy is set for second reading Dec. 1, although it may be delayed to make sure it aligns with the province’s guidelines.
“If I was a member of the LGBTQ community, I would be eagerly awaiting to see what concrete measure are in place,” Bergstra said.
“The fact of the matter is that there is compassion and safe and caring measures in our schools everyday, but it’s when it’s in writing that you have that extra level of assurance that, hey, … I always have this behind me to default. I think that that’s just a level of security that’s needed for this very vulnerable group of individuals.”