In Alberta, “parental rights” and privatization go hand in hand

In recent years, public education systems have become a battleground in a culture war fomented by the far right. The points of contention include manufactured panics over “wokeism” and accusations that schools are teaching “critical race theory” and “divisive concepts.” The current flashpoint, around the supposed indoctrination of students with “gender ideology,” has seen several Conservative-governed provinces introduce legislation and policy around transgender children and youth, often at the behest of groups calling for recognition of “parental rights.” Many of these same groups also call for increased “school choice” in the form of public subsidies for private education.

These culture-war pressures on public education and the push for privatization are inextricably linked, part of a wider North American movement in which the discourse of parental rights is used to justify policies that undermine public education, marginalize vulnerable students, and advance privatization agendas. This article examines these interconnected trends in Alberta, tracing their historical roots and how they are currently reinforcing one another.

Understanding parental rights

The concept of parental rights, especially in the context of education, is often framed as an established legal principle despite the near-total lack of laws defining parents as a rights-holding category. Under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, parents do have the right to raise their children according to their values, within reasonable legal limits. However, children are also recognized as rights-bearing individuals, and Canadian law does not support the notion that parental rights supersede children’s rights.¹ This is an idea that upsets many social conservatives.

This tension is particularly evident in debates around LGBTQ+ rights, sex education, and gender-affirming care for transgender children and youth. Conservative ideologies have long resisted the idea that children, including adolescents, may have the right to hold beliefs or take decisions that their parents disagree with. Notably, the U.S. has never ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, due in part to conservatives’ concerns over Articles of the Convention dealing with children’s rights to freedom of thought and expression, as well as to privacy.²

UBC education professor Jason Ellis noted that in Canada, “parental rights” advocacy can be traced back over a century, usually related to issues like language and religion in education. Whatever the specific issues sparking concern at a given point in time, Prof. Ellis notes that parents generally view education as being a social contract in which schools will educate children in accordance with parental wishes and values, and that things “tend to become very contentious” when some parents perceive that this unwritten contract is being violated.³ It is not surprising, then, to see that parental rights are often asserted in relation to how schools navigate contentious social issues such as race, gender identity, sex education, and even COVID-19 public health restrictions.

In recent years, conservative governments across North America have sought to codify a restrictive view of parental rights in legislation. The FutureEd think tank has tracked dozens of parental rights bills introduced in U.S. states in 2022 and 2023, many of which restrict or prohibit content related to race, gender, and sexuality, or compel schools to use birth-assigned names and pronouns, or seek parental permission to use students’ preferred name or pronouns.⁴

These trends have crossed into Canada. New Brunswick and Saskatchewan introduced legislation requiring parental consent for students under 16 to use chosen names or pronouns at school⁵ ⁶ (New Brunswick’s policy was reversed by a subsequent government). Alberta followed suit in 2024, with legislation that went further by requiring parental opt-in for any instruction related to gender or sexuality, and limiting schools’ ability to implement public health measures (this latter provision appears to pander to those opposed to COVID-19 measures).⁷ Alberta also passed legislation curtailing access to gender-affirming healthcare for minors, even those whose parents wish them to receive this care.⁸

Alberta announced in May 2025 that the province would be formulating a new policy around school library books, supposedly in response to concerns raised by parents who contacted the Education Minister over “inappropriate” materials that included several graphic novels with LGBTQ+ themes. However, an article by the Investigative Journalism Foundation indicates that these complaints actually came from Parents for Choice in Education, a group that advocates for “parental rights” and education privatization; and Action4Canada, a Christian group that embraces anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theories.⁹ Such tactics are familiar to anyone who has been following the American parental rights group Moms for Liberty’s attacks on books, school and libraries.¹⁰

Most “parental rights” advocacy comes from socially conservative groups, is not inclusive of all parents, and is a clear threat to the rights of vulnerable children. Emerging research shows that anti-LGBTQ+ policies correlate with increased risks for LGBTQ+ students, including bullying, mental distress, and suicide attempts.¹¹ ¹² An article in the Tyee¹³ reports on a focus group held with parents from LGBTQ+ families in Calgary, who express concern about the mental health impacts of Alberta’s legislation on their children, and also anger that the government is overriding their right to support their children’s access to gender-affirming health care.

Privatization and “school choice” through the lens of parental rights

Privatization in education extends beyond the existence of private schools. It involves the redirection of public funds to private entities, whether through subsidies to schools or families. Alberta’s private schools receive 70% of the per-student funding that public schools do—one of the highest levels in Canada.¹⁴

Charter schools, while publicly funded and tuition-free, also fall within the privatization spectrum. They are not governed by publicly elected boards, may limit enrollment, and are not obligated to serve all students. Homeschooling is also subsidized in Alberta, reinforcing a broader framework in which public funds support private choices.

Public funding for privatized school choice is often justified by appeals to parental rights. The Alberta Bill of Rights affirms “the right of parents to make informed decisions respecting the education of their children,”¹⁵ echoing the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.¹⁶ However, these statements are often selectively quoted, omitting key principles that emphasize education as a collective public good.

In Alberta, the efforts of conservative groups invoking parental rights to secure public funding for private education date back to the 1960s. These efforts were led primarily by Dutch immigrants who arrived in Alberta in the mid-20th century. These immigrants belonged to the Dutch Reformed branch of Protestantism, and did not feel that either the public or Catholic school options met their needs. Accordingly, they founded private religious schools for their children, and lobbied the government to fund these schools through groups such as the Christian Action Foundation, which sought to create “a growing understanding in [provincial MLAs] with respect to parental rights in education [emphasis added], different philosophies of education, and injustices with respect to the present system of Government financing of Education.”¹⁷

Though the origins of the school choice movement in Alberta were rural and religious, this view of education as a private good where individual choices should be publicly funded has become increasingly common as neoliberal ideas about the purpose of education gained broad acceptance beginning in the 1990s. Neoliberalism, broadly speaking, positions individual self-interest above the public good, and posits that the private sector can do a better job than the public sector of delivering programs such as health care and education. According to education scholar Sue Winton (p. 17), “A central neoliberal idea is that the economic and social world should be organized according to the principles of the free market. That is, individuals, organizations, and businesses should be able to compete for success with minimal government involvement.”¹⁸

In education, this means fostering an environment of choice and competition, in which schools compete for students and families are “customers” directing “their” share of public funds to their chosen provider. Offering individuals an array of choices becomes more important than ensuring equity for all, despite the fact that individuals with greater socioeconomic privilege obviously have more options and therefore benefit most from the “choices” offered by privatization. Under such a system, parents are encouraged to think first and foremost about their own children’s success, and, as Winton notes, (p. 19), “many [parents] embrace, if not outright demand, privatization of public education as a means of securing advantages for their children.” Thus, the public funding of private education options is seen as a parental rights issue in and of itself.

While educated urbanites seeking to optimize their children’s opportunities may not appear to have much in common with religious or rural parents concerned about the values of a secular or “liberal” school system, privatization proponents have learned that stoking culture war issues and presenting “choice” as a solution can be persuasive to both camps, particularly when vague but disturbing allegations of “indoctrination” are levelled against public schools. Regarding the issue of controversial school library books, the group Parents for Choice in Education argues that “monopoly public schooling itself would make such disagreements [over the appropriateness of books] inevitable,” and that school choice “lowers the stakes of these fights” and “is the best tool to peacefully resolve this issue.”¹⁹

Polarization and the weaponization of parental rights

Recent education policy debates in Alberta have been shaped by moral panics and culture war rhetoric. Jason Kenney, before becoming UCP leader, described Alberta’s curriculum as indoctrinating youth with “collectivist ideas” and “identity politics.”²⁰ After becoming UCP leader, Kenney’s government halted a curriculum update that was underway, and replaced it with a reactionary K-6 curriculum update of his own, as well as passing laws enabling parental notification if students joined gay-straight alliances.²¹

This narrative—that public education pushes a progressive agenda—has fueled a resurgence in parental rights discourse. Conservative groups claim schools indoctrinate children with “woke” values, and use these claims to push for privatization. These dynamics mirror U.S. movements that have long opposed LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools under the banner of parental rights.²²

Alberta’s education debates are also entwined with conspiratorial rhetoric. Movements opposing COVID-19 restrictions have merged with anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-CRT sentiment, as seen in the 1 Million March 4 Children demonstrations, which drew support from convoy organizers and QAnon affiliates.²³ ²⁴

Two groups exist in Alberta specifically to advocate for greater school choice. Both have disseminated disinformation about “gender ideology” and sex education in schools. The oldest group is Parents for Choice in Education, which has been active since at least 2012. Its Executive Director, John Hilton-O’Brien, is a frequent contributor to the right-wing Western Standard, where he advocates for private and religious education, and against public school boards and supposed “wokeness” in education. In one column about gender-affirming care, Hilton-O’Brien made the clearly untruthful claim that the gender clinic at the Alberta Children’s Hospital “is accepting referrals of children as young as five years old, from teachers. Parents don’t need to be in the loop.”²⁵ Hilton-O’Brien’s group appears to have some sway over the current UCP government. In 2022 the group launched a petition calling for the Education Act to be amended to require opt-in for sex education, instead of the practice used at the time to opt out.²⁶ These changes were later enacted by the UCP government, despite objections from school boards and the Alberta Teachers Association.²⁷

While Parents for Choice in Education advocates for increasing private education that aligns with private parental values, they also seek to influence public education by electing pro-school-choice trustees. In preparation for the 2025 municipal elections, the group has developed training workshops for trustee candidates.

A newer parent group, the Alberta Parents’ Union, was founded in 2022. On its web site, the group claims to advocate “for the best possible education for all Alberta students—whether that be public, separate, francophone, alternative, charter, independent, or home education.” However, the group’s many online petitions include one advocating for school vouchers. One petition about “what kids are learning” suggests schools are indoctrinating students with critical race theory, LGBTQ+ content, climate change, and “an ideological spin on the events at the United States Capitol Building on January 6th, 2021.”²⁸ The group’s Executive Director, Jeff Park, gave an interview to Rebel News in 2023, in which he relayed an anecdote of a 13-year-old boy who he claimed had been removed from school without his parents’ knowledge, taken to a conference at a hotel, and “given a 50-page flip book about how to have sex and 153 condoms.”²⁹

The other main group in Alberta that has been active in the debates around parental rights and K-12 education is Take Back Alberta. Founded by David Parker, a former Conservative staffer, Take Back Alberta is widely credited with harnessing popular anger around COVID mandates to take over the UCP board, forcing Jason Kenney out and replacing him with Danielle Smith. Parker, who grew up in rural Alberta and was homeschooled, has often expressed hostility to public education. He has advocated for his group’s supporters to take over public school boards, citing a belief that public schools operate under “the tyranny of the rainbow guard and the green guard.”³⁰

The road ahead

The intersection of privatization and parental rights poses a significant challenge to the future of public education in Alberta. While these policies are framed as empowering parents, they often serve to fragment the education system, divert resources away from inclusive public schools, and marginalize vulnerable students.

Public education advocates must remain vigilant, especially as Alberta approaches municipal elections in 2025. Trustee elections are low-turnout contests, making them susceptible to organized campaigns by ideologically motivated groups. Voters should scrutinize candidates for coded language such as “fund students, not systems,” and question whether their definitions of parental rights are inclusive of all families or respectful of children’s rights.

A truly equitable education system must centre the rights and well-being of all students, not just the preferences of a vocal minority. It must resist the erosion of public governance and funding in favour of opaque, unaccountable alternatives. And it must reaffirm that education is not a consumer product, but a public good that benefits all of society.

This article is adapted from a backgrounder prepared by the author for the Parkland Institute.

In Alberta, “parental rights” and privatization go hand in hand

Our Schools/Our Selves, Summer/Fall 2025

Understanding parental rights

Privatization and “school choice” through the lens of parental rights

Polarization and the weaponization of parental rights

The road ahead

We’re fighting for change and your donation helps!

Contact Us

News & Resources

Regions

Projects

About Us

Contact Us

Ways to Give

In Alberta, “parental rights” and privatization go hand in hand

Our Schools/Our Selves, Summer/Fall 2025

Understanding parental rights

Privatization and “school choice” through the lens of parental rights

Polarization and the weaponization of parental rights

The road ahead

article contents

Creating safe and inclusive schools in Ontario

We’re fighting for change and your donation helps!

Contact Us