Yes, Parental Rights Exist!

It’s become fashionable in some political circles recently to claim that there’s no such thing as parental rights in Canada.

This new fad seems to have taken off after a comment made last year by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, when he politicized the concept of parental rights:

“Far-right political actors are trying to outdo themselves with the types of cruelty and isolation they can inflict on these already vulnerable people”.

Now, predictably, the NDP is joining in, with their federal Justice spokesperson, Member of Parliament Randall Garrison, claiming in a video - that has since gone viral - that parental rights don’t exist at all:

“There’s no such thing as parental rights in Canada. There are parental responsibilities,” said Garrison.

Others, like Egale Canada - one of the organizations suing provinces that respect parental rights - have gone even further, praising Cuba, of all places, for replacing “parental authority” with “parental responsibility” and conferring on children the right to gender identity:

“Cuba, once again, stands as a beacon of hope for the rest of the world still fighting for equality rights.”

Seriously?

All these ideas are, of course, nonsense on stilts.

Parents are the real experts in their own kids.

Parents are the best advocates for their kids.

Parents are the most loving force in their kids' lives.

For all these reasons, parents - not the government - have the responsibility to look after their kids’ upbringing - including their education.

And rights are how parents are empowered to fulfill those responsibilities.

We think the existence and importance of these rights is self-evident, but for people like Justin Trudeau and Randall Garrison, and groups like Egale Canada, who pretend not to understand this, here’s some more evidence:

First, parental rights are explicitly mentioned in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms when it comes to things like educational choice and language rights - the Charter clearly and explicitly recognizes that a child’s right to access the education that fits for them is best secured by parental rights to choose that education.

Second, there are - at last count - 90 different Canadian laws that either mention parental rights explicitly or use an equivalent phrase.

Third, there are over 2,500 court decisions mentioning parental rights and finding, among other things, that Section 2 of the Charter means parents have the constitutional right to determine all aspects of their children’s education, including choosing a religious education.

So, yes, parents have rights in Canada - especially when it comes to education

But, then - if this is so obviously true - why is there such controversy and debate about their existence in the first place?

Well, unfortunately, there has been a deliberate effort by the federal government and radical activists to undermine the very concept of parental rights.

And they’ve done so using millions of your taxpayer dollars.

Every year, the Canadian federal government (not to mention international organizations, provincial governments, and municipal governments) gives tens of millions of dollars to organizations like Egale Canada and other similar groups, to attack and undermine parental rights.

And everything these groups say and do is widely promoted and supported by media organizations who are also given hundreds of millions of dollars of your tax dollars.

Meanwhile, groups that support parental rights don’t receive any government funding.

We know that parents’ rights are how you protect children’s rights, because parents are the best advocates for their children’s rights.

Yet, we don’t take a single cent from you via the government to help promote and defend this idea - and we never will - because we think it’s important for the government to hear the genuine voice of parents, not an echo of their own views.

We rely entirely on donations from people who voluntarily support us because they see the value of our expertise and advocacy.

Unfortunately, if you support parents' rights, you are already funding the side hostile to your views.

But, maybe, today, you want to donate to the side that actually represents your views:

For the Parents,

-Jeff and the Alberta Parents' Union Team

P.S. If you’d like to provide us with more stable funding, please consider joining as a member today! We’ve accomplished a lot, over a short time, with a little, and for $10 a month, you can help us to do even more.