Education minister’s insults hit wrong target
It’s disturbing to see hostility directed at opposition members and the public
Debate in Alberta’s legislature should rise to a higher standard than the kind of base discourse found on social media.
Sadly, that doesn’t appear to be the case in Alberta.
On Monday, Education Minister David Eggen insulted all Albertans who have or are likely to vote for the United Conservative Party as people incapable of critical thinking.
When called upon by UCP House Leader Jason Nixon to apologize, Eggen refused and, instead, Edmonton NDP MLA Brian Mason stood and claimed that Nixon was trying to “twist the truth” in his call for an apology. So, dear readers, I will let you decide.
First, UCP MLA Mark Smith, a former social studies teacher, rose to ask a question about changes to the school curriculum in Alberta.
“Given concerns that the curriculum does not teach the basic knowledge they’ll need to think critically when they’re ready, how will the minister address concerns that this inattention to basic knowledge will leave students unprepared to think critically?”
Eggen — the man responsible for shaping what our children must learn in Alberta schools — responded this way, as shown in the official legislative Hansard record: “Critical thinking is a very important part of being a member of a modern society. I know that the members opposite don’t like critical thinking because once people learn it, then they will be less likely to vote for the UCP.”
There were gasps of shock and then some muted applause at the comment, but even government members didn’t seem overly pleased.
Nixon, the UCP MLA for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain HouseSundre, called on Eggen to apologize.
“There were 772,000 Albertans who voted for the conservative side of the question in the last election,” Nixon said of the results of the May 5, 2015, provincial vote.
“There are hundreds of thousands of Albertans who identify as conservatives, and I can tell you that they would be greatly insulted to be informed by the education minister that they cannot critically think. Let’s be clear. This is a government who continually calls Albertans names, a premier who referred to some Albertans as Chicken Little because of their concerns with the carbon tax and, most famously, a deputy premier who called Albertans sewer rats. In this case, again to say that they are not capable of critically thinking is appalling, and that minister should stand up and apologize and withdraw his ridiculous remarks about the people of Alberta.”
At least Sarah Hoffman apologized for her March 13, 2017, “sewer rat” slur in the legislature. Eggen did not apologize. Instead, Mason responded with further insults.
“You know, some people in the house seem to be able to twist the truth like a pretzel, and this is a perfect example,” said Mason.
“For example, if you take what the minister of education said — and I thought it was a fairly lighthearted political jibe across the aisle — it was not that people who voted conservative were incapable of critical thought but that, in his opinion, the more people were able to reason critically, the less likely they were to vote for the UCP. I don’t disagree with that point of view,” said Mason.
Hmmm? Again, this is what Eggen said: “I know that the members opposite don’t like critical thinking because once people learn it, then they will be less likely to vote for the UCP.”
Worse yet, it sounds as though Eggen is saying that once he’s through with messing with Alberta’s curriculum, kids will be indoctrinated into becoming good little NDP voters.
Politicians are accustomed to being derided but they are right to take a stand when members of the government attack hundreds of thousands of the citizens they are tasked with representing.
Deborah Jabbour, the deputy speaker, said “I did hear the comment, but in my viewpoint it was again part of that lighthearted banter back and forth. It’s something, arguably, it perhaps would be nice to have a little more of in this assembly and in this chamber.”
The deputy speaker thinks there should be more of this kind of banter in the legislature. Her Majesty would not be amused.
Many hideous comments have been made in the legislature by the government. I have accumulated a long list.
The worst, perhaps, comes from Bob Turner, the NDP MLA for Edmonton-Whitemud, who was speaking about the Rwandan genocide when he said in June: “I can’t think of it here in Alberta, how it would happen, but it would be as if the official Opposition decided to say that socialists were evil and were non-Christian and didn’t deserve to live. Have I heard that comment? I don’t think I have heard that comment before, but I sometimes get that impression, that sort of thing.”
At least the Speaker, Robert Wanner, interrupted Turner to say: “the comments about the Opposition were a little over the top,” and Turner apologized.
Turner and Eggen are not just people who bought a party membership and then said something dumb. They were elected to represent all of us.
It’s unbecoming of any politician in the legislature to be so crass, but when it’s the governing party, which has a majority, it’s particularly disturbing to see such antipathy directed not just at members opposite but the population at large.
The legislature is not Twitter. All elected members should remember that.