Alberta's Law on Transwomen Competition in Women's Sports

"Our government believes in a sport system that provides opportunities for all Canadians to participate and excel in sport, including the transgender community."

"This means a sports system that is welcoming, inclusive, safe, fair, rooted in good governance and operations."

"Using sport to discriminate against the trans community is wrong, and to the detriment of an already vulnerable, excluded, and marginalized community."

"...There must be a path forward for sport in Canada where the integrity and fairness of sport categories are preserved, while at the same time, human rights are respected."

Alyson Fair, spokesperson, Secretary of State for Sport Adam van Koeverden 

 

"I think there has to be some kind of challenge mechanism in place to give the policy teeth, but it's something that needs to be handled with the utmost discretion."

"Information supporting the grounds of a challenge can't be something like 'she's too tall' or she has short hair'."

Blaine Badiuk, Lethbridge, Alberta

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks about introducing three new bills to do with transgender issues in Edmonton on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. Among the bills is Alberta's new ban on transgender athletes in female sports. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)

The Fairness and Safety in Sport Act (formerly Bill 29) establishes a balanced approach to protect the integrity of female athletic competitions by ensuring women and girls have the opportunity to compete in biological female-only divisions, while also ensuring transgender athletes are able to meaningfully participate in the sports of their choice.

The Fairness and Safety in Sport Act requires in-scope organizations to create and implement policies for athlete eligibility that align with requirements set out in the regulation, including limiting eligibility for female-only divisions to biologically female athletes. The Act also supports the expansion and creation of mixed-sex leagues, classes or divisions, where numbers warrant.

Alberta’s government consulted with provincial sport organizations, post-secondary institutions, school authorities, coaches, parents, athletes, members of the transgender community and other subject matter experts to help inform Alberta’s approach to creating a more fair and safe sport system in the province.

Alberta Government Website 

 

 

"Alberta’s government will work with sporting organizations in the province to ensure biologically born female athletes are able to compete in a biological female-only division without having to compete against transgender female athletes while also expanding co-ed or other gender-neutral divisions for athletic competitions to ensure that transgender athletes are able to meaningfully participate in the sport of their choice."

"This will just apply to trans women and girls as there are biological realities that give transgender female athletes a competitive advantage over women and girls."

Kevin Lee, press secretary, Alberta Tourism and Sport Ministry

A new Alberta law prohibits transgender athletes from competing in female-only athletic divisions, giving women and girls in the province the assurance that any athletic competition they will be involved in as competitors will be truly fair and respecting of their basic human rights. The law is not complicit with the transgender-supporting sentiments of the federal government in Ottawa, however. The sniffing condescension of the Liberal government's position of 'fairness' to the transgender community, overlooks fairness to a much larger contingent; half of the nation's population that are not a fringe minority. 

 

According to a statement by a spokesperson for the Canadian Ministry of Sport that her office and that of Women and Gender Equality are actively "monitoring the implementation and implications" of the Alberta policy. Evidently no one in those ministries is perturbed over the unfairness and intrusion of girls and women sharing intimate public places with individuals born as males while attesting to having transited to females. Nor the competitive advantage of male hormones and musculature that give male bodies greater strength and endurance than do female bodies.

 

The Alberta law also includes other measures including mandatory parental disclosure for school pronoun alterations that accompany gender transition, along with a ban on medical transitions for children younger than 15, considered by the federal Liberal ruling government to represent the "most anti-LGBT policies" in Canada. Not the most careful, cautious, child-friendly, parental- and family-supporting initiative in all of Canada where 'progressive' liberalism has embraced the excesses of transgender entitlements. 

 

All female athletes aged 12 and older are required to submit an attestation form verifying female identification at birth under the new sport law which came into effect at the start of the new school year. A complaint system allowing concerned parties to initiate a review of eligibility of individual athletes enforces the policy, through the submission of a confidential challenge form to a relevant school board or provincial sporting organization. If sufficient grounds are found to support the challenge the subject is notified and required to produce birth registration documentation.

 

Those athletes considered to have misrepresented their birth gender or who refuse to produce the requested documents are to be barred from competition in female sport in the province. Blaine Badiuk, a transwoman living in the province hopes the challenge process will not incentivize the amateur sleuthing of female athletes based on appearance, known as "transvestigation". She was personally involved in taking part in government consultations on the policy, and plans to take a "wait and see" position.  

 

American Lia Thomas was the first female trans athlete to win a collegiate title in 2022. Three months later, the World Swimming Federation excluded participants who had gone through male puberty from the women's category    Image: Chris Szagola/AP/Picture Alliance

 

"[B]oards of in-scope entities may impose reasonable sanctions against any person who, in the opinion of the board, challenges the eligibility of an athlete in bad faith."

"Such sanctions may include, but are not limited to, written warnings, code of conduct violations, or any existing policies and procedures that an in-scope entity may have in place [to ensure robust safeguards against false and malicious challenges]."

Vanessa Gomez, spokesperson, Alberta Ministry of Tourism and Sport 

Wildfires Sweep Across Canada From East to West

"Unless we get one heck of a boost, it's projected to take chunks out of our town and surrounding areas. It's looking very ugly right now."

"We're begging for air support [to  help douse the fire]. It's really crucial."

Mayor of Flin Flon, Manitoba, George Fontaine

 

"It's a very serious situation that we're faced with. We do need some rainfall."

"We need that sooner rather than later, and in light of that not being in the forecast, we most certainly are putting in place every measure possible to prepare the province." 

"Resources are stretched thin because of the severity of the situation that we're facing and the intensity and the proximity of the fires."

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe 

 

"My husband was trapped on the other side of the barricade with no pills, no food, no nothing. They wouldn't let him come to me to evacuate," 

"[Reunited], we're trying to register with Saskatchewan Red Cross; I've tried numerous times."

"Worse happens, we're sleeping in the car. We'll just keep traveling from town to town to town to town till hopefully we find something."

Sandy Oosterlaken, evacuated from Denare Beach   

A wildfire in the Sherridon, Man. area is shown in a government handout photo on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Manitoba Government

 

Fierce, shifting winds threatened to propel a nearby raging wildfire into the city of Flin Flon, Manitoba where buildings, both homes and civil infrastructure would be vulnerable to the flames. The municipality 630 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg served notice to its 5,000 residents to begin emergency evacuation. A wildfire that had started over the boundary in neighbouring Saskatchewan had swiftly reached Flin Flon's northern perimeter.

 

Another thousand people are resident in cottages and homes surrounding Flin Flon. All remaining residents were directed by the city to leave before noon on Friday. Buses were driving those who don't have shelter, to Manitoba's capital city, Winnipeg. A total of 17,000 residents in Manitoba have been forced to leave their towns and homes in the last several days. 

 

Small communities and towns stretching from northern Ontario to British Columbia -- Canada's east-to-west geographic arc -- face an early fire season whipping through forests. From a blaze that started Monday near Creighton, Saskatchewan, after jumping the boundary into Manitoba and menacing Flin Flon, the wildfire has grown to 40 square kilometres, with firefighting crews struggling to contain it. As a result of heavy smoke and a drone incursion, water bombers were grounded intermittently.  

 

A wildfire that broke out across the North Saskatchewan River, in Parkland County, on May 8. (Noam Olsson photos) Photo by HO /THE CANADIAN PRESS

 

Residents of Creighton, 1,200 in number, have been ordered out of the range of the wildfire. Over 4,000 people have fled wildfires raging in Saskatchewan, under a province-wide state of emergency. Alberta, which in recent years has suffered immense wldfire damage, this year has fared comparatively better. Northwest of Edmonton, however, the 1,300 residents of Swan Hills have been ordered to evacuate, along with the 900 residents of Chateh in Alberta's northwestern corner.

 

In Chipewyan Lake, about 450 kilometres north of Edmonton, a crew of eight firefighters were temporarily trapped overnight but finally were able to drive their way out to safety. A wildfire in British Columbia that prompted an evacuation order Thursday, quadrupled in size overnight while firefighters prepared for "intensifying conditions" in the parched northeast of the province where the concentration of most fire activity is located. 

 

The blaze "displaying aggressive fire behaviour" in the Peace River Regional District near the community of Kelly Lake was about 46 square kilometres in size Friday, substantially larger from the 11 square kilometres it registered the day before, according to the British Columbia Wildfire Service.   

 

Military aircraft and helicopters are being used to evacuate residents in Manitoba from fast-moving wildfires    EPA

 

British Columbia has about 60 wildfires ongoing at the present time, 34 of which are classified as burning out of control. According to the B.C. Wildfire Service, 18 percent of the active fires were human caused, 77 percent started by lightning taking advantage of the drought situation and tinder-dry forests, and five percent of unknown causes.  

"It's been another challenging day here in Manitoba."

"[Firefighters were using] water bombers flying overhead [and] helicopters dropping buckets of water."

"But at the same time, all the smoke in the air is making the evacuation effort that much more difficult."

"Our provinces here in Canada are immense. By the time somebody makes it to Winnipeg, some of them have been on the road overnight. They've had to be on a flight for a few hours and then on a bus for several hours after that."

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) patrol vehicle is parked as a water bomber flies over the plume of smoke from a wildfire near The Pas, Manitoba, May 27, 2025. Manitoba RCMP/Handout via REUTERS

 

The Rot Within

"Our analysis demonstrated that Canadian RWE [right-wing extremists] communities identified in this study engage in a range of harmful behaviours."

"This includes potentially illegal activity such as the incitement and glorification of violence and explicit hate speech."

"In particular, the communities studied in this report appear to act as hubs for disinformation and conspiracy theories, including content relating to the COVID-19 pandemic."

Institute for Strategic Dialogue, London report

 

"[Thousands of people are joining pandemic conspiracy movements through social media, so when doctors and public figures spread false online information] it lends conspiracy theory promoters an air of credibility."

"In some way, shape or form similar stuff like that is happening all across Canada,. It just seems like more of it is happening in Alberta now." 

"it's a very dangerous combination of things happening right now. In an environment like that, all it takes is one unstable person to try to act out the violent fantasies of the group."

Evan Balgord, executive director, Canadian Anti-Hate Network research group 

A video widely circulated online this week shows Dr. Gary Davidson, an emergency medicine physician at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre, accusing the government of waiting for a drop in admittance numbers to trigger a lockdown to enable it to take credit in swift action. (Kyle Green/The Associated Press)

 

The Province of Alberta stands out as the most COVID-vulnerable poster child in Canada struggling in vain to check the surge of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta strain that has been overwhelming countries the world over in its viral contagiousness. Hospitals are overwhelmed, case counts are soaring, 'elective' surgeries are once again being cancelled, death numbers increasing. The premier of the province is in a quandary, having to backtrack on opening the province too soon, now once again re-imposing a lockdown, and with it a move to COVID passports, infuriating the population.

Unable to cope with its ICUs crowded with patients and shortages, the province sent out an appeal to other provinces for help. Those that were able to oblige are receiving air-lifted COVID patients requiring emergency hospital care that Alberta hospitals are unable to service. Neighbouring Saskatchewan was one province that was unable to open its ICU doors to Alberta patients. It too is overwhelmed with COVID patients. In Alberta the influx of patients invariably reflects unvaccinated people.

Resistance by anti-vaxxers in Alberta is endemic by a wide margin in comparison to other provinces, and more prominent in outlying areas. These are people hugely resistant to the very idea that medical science is on the right track in advising populations how best to protect themselves from the virus. These are the people convinced that government is trying to control their every thought, to take away any vestiges of personal agency and independence. And they are supported by groups that feed on this unstable paranoia.

 

On social media all manner of theories abound, posing as knowledge-based solutions, from the use of horse de-wormer medications as a 'cure' for COVID, to other bizarre remedies that sometimes land people in hospital. Suspicion of government motivations is rampant. Doctors pressured by some of their patients, provide them with vaccine-exemption letters on health grounds, from enabling patients to bypass wearing masks in public to arguing that medical conditions preclude inoculation.

The Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons is preparing to publish a letter addressed to its physician-members and the public at large, reiterating its support for vaccines and public health requirements in place to curb the spread of COVID-19. Doctors identified by the College as spreading misinformation on social media platforms have been warned that their behaviour may impact the credibility of their profession and may in fact lead to suspension of their medical practise certification.

With the highest number of unvaccinated people in the country, the spread of misinformation continues to harm the public even as case numbers explode. Sources such as not only doctors but other public workers and well-known figures including police officers, firefighters and others weigh in on their beliefs contrary to government authorities and medical community experts. One popular country singer reported to his large following that people recovered from COVID are immune thereafter to the virus.

A report out of London by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue think tank that monitors disinformation spoke of online communication channels associated with white supremacy and racism having seen exponential growth during the pandemic. 

Alberta on Tuesday reported 29 additional COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 2,574 people. Photo by IAN KUCERAK / Postmedia

 "It's incredibly disappointing to see your profession do things that are so harmful to others."

"We're in pretty unprecedented times. There are always events where the odd physician may say or do things that are counter to traditional pratices of medicine, but not to this degree, not to this scale."

"This is just the minority of people in the profession that are creating a problem, but that minority is having a huge impact."

"Physicians do have a very powerful voice in society and people listen to it."

"I would recommend that whoever is listening to those physicians also listen to some of the other evidence that's out there with an open mind."

"Unfortunately, we see a lot of confirmation bias where people want to believe the science that they're hearing, instead of critically appraising that science." 

"[The college had an emergency meeting and] counsel made it very clear that we need to be aggressive in dealing with [doctors spreading misinformation]."

Scott McLeod, registrar, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta

UN Committees Hot on the Heels of Human Rights Abusers

"[The committee failed to study First Nations views toward the project; I] did not know [that most First Nations committees supported the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline]."
"I did not know that most First Nations agree on that. This is something new that comes to my understanding."
Noureddine Amir, Chair, United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)

"I frankly find it condescending to the work the 20 nations have done in the past six or seven years to get the project to where it is today."
"I think it speaks volumes in terms of the sensationalism [around] a topic that is getting so much attention."
"There are sides to the story that are not being reflected and frankly there are not many voices in the media in support of the project [to bring natural gas via a pipeline to an export facility along the West coast of British Columbia]."
"They [TC Energy based in Calgary] offer the solution to social issues that no other entity, no other political body, no other government has been able to do for our people."
Naisla Nation Chief Crystal Smith

"[CERD was] disturbed by the forced removal, disproportionate use of force, harassment and intimidation by law enforcement officials against Indigenous peoples who peacefully oppose large-scale development projects on their traditional territories."
CERD directive

"Of all people, someone in his position, you would think the very first thing he would do is at least to gather information on both sides of the story. It's unfortunate he never did his homework."
"He could have looked it up online and found out in seconds."
"I nearly spat out my coffee [reading the CERD directive]."
Chris Sankey, former elected band councillor, Lax Kw'alaams First Nation, Prince Rupert, B.C.

Wet'suwet'en Hereditary chiefs after issuing their eviction notice to the Coastal GasLink Pipeline. - Facebook

According to Haisla Chief Smith, the agreement in question that her community signed with TC Energy to build the pipeline in question represents their best opportunity to attain autonomy and to become financially independent. Proceeds that accrue to the First Nation, as it will to others signing the agreement, are set to be used in broad poverty-reduction programs along with associated social tools leading to efforts to "revitalize" the local culture.

A directive had been issued in December by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that called for three large-scale natural-resource projects in British Columbia to "immediately" be shut down. Those projects include the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline projected to feed into a massive export facility along the West coast, a project with signed benefit agreements linking 20 Indigenous communities along the 670 kilometre route cutting across their territory.

Chief Ellis Ross: “the UN has no frickin’ business talking about what’s happening here.”

Mr. Noureddine, chief of CERD had no real idea of what his committee based its conclusions on other than that they were defending the rights of Indigenous communities. No information had been sought to explain the issues involved because investigative work is not included in the committee's mandate. Which seems rather typical of any United Nations arm mandated to express opinion on issues based on surface circumstances when without a full understanding of issues and history they should neither condone nor condemn.

Major resource projects in Canada evolving around extraction, refining and use and shipping of fossil fuels have engendered great discussions and protests from environmental groups determined to halt any possible progression in the industry to the point where Canada, with its vast proven resources is unable to proceed with extraction, with pipelines sending product to other parts of Canada, instead shipping oil the vast distance from the Gulf States to North America. With the focus on the issue comes the erroneous impression that all First Nations are opposed to the industry.

The CERD directive called as well for an immediate stop to the Trans Mountain pipeline construction and the Site C dam in British Columbia. When Mr. Noureddine made it clear he had made no effort to investigate before condemning, First Nations representatives for whom the pipeline construction represents an opportunity to prosper from their territorial geology, responded with disbelief and anger. The Pacific North West LNG project since scrapped was a matter of negotiations for the Lax Kw'alaama First Nation as well.

"It is unbelievable that a  United Nations Committee who [s8c] attempted to single out Canada didn't even realize that many major Canadian projects have earned First Nations and community support", Sonya Savage, Alberta Energy Minister expressed in disgust, in a written statement. "With all the injustice in the world, it’s beyond rich that the unelected, unaccountable United Nations would seemingly single out Canada — one of the greatest champions of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Canada’s duly elected representatives — not unaccountable international committees — are responsible for governing decisions in this country."

Part of the broader $40 billion LNG Canada project under construction near Kitimat, British Columbia, the Coastal pipeline will eventually ship supercooled gas to Asian markets, the first major LNG project at the construction phase after years of regulatory delays and political disputes delaying such large-scale developments in Canada. And while there are some First Nations bands that protest the pipeline construction, there are others who fully support development.

Pipe for the Trans Mountain pipeline is unloaded in Edson, Alta. on June 18, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson)

When Criminals Sue Their Victims

"Our view is that effectively we meet the four corners of Bill 27. [The bill] effectively means that there can be no claim, so the fact that they're putting Eddie through the ringer ... is a bit offensive, frankly."
Scott Chimuk, lawyer, Edouard Maurice, Okotoks, Alberta

"As ... Watson was fleeing, without warning, [Maurice] attempted to scare [Watson] by shooting a 22-calibre rifle in his direction, but negligently hit the plaintiff in the right forearm."
"[The injury to his right forearm resulted in] severe damages and liability."
Lawsuit, statement of claim

"Mr. Maurice suffered from mental distress, anxiety, nightmares and a fear of repetition."
"Given that he lives in a rural community, he continues to worry for the safety of his wife and two infant daughters."
"Mr. Maurice seeks: an order that Mr. Maurice is entitled to an award of punitive damages as against the criminally convicted trespasser is such an amount as may be determined at trial."
Countersuit

A young boy and girl play with homemade stocks as people gather in support of Edouard Maurice, who faced three charges after police allege the rural homeowner confronted two people rummaging through his vehicles and shots were fired, outside court in Okotoks, Alta., Friday, March 9, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Back in June of 2018 criminal charges brought by police against Edouard Maurice for discharging a firearm at an intruder were dropped. Living in rural Alberta which has been plagued by rural crime of property thefts, Mr. Maurice doesn't lack for community support. Property owners are seized with concern that, should they attempt to defend themselves, their families and their properties, police will intervene to arrest them -- the property owner and victim -- not the intruder who is clearly a criminal focused on theft.

It is such an endemic problem that the United Conservative government introduced Bill 27 in November, now law since December 5. A law geared to make it more difficult for trespassers to sue property owners for injuries received when a property owner confronts a would-be robber to defend his property. The landowner must not commit a crime and the trespasser must show the landowner's response was wilfully and grossly disproportionate, under the new law.

Mr. Maurice had been criminally charged with firearm offences in 2018, relating to his having fired warning shots at intruders on his property where he operates a pet resort. Now the man who had clearly been illegally on his property and seen to be in the act of rifling through his parked truck, subsequently hit with a ricochet bullet when Mr. Maurice fired several shots to frighten the two intruders off, has brought a lawsuit against him. And Mr. Maurice's lawyer is attempting to use the new law to have the lawsuit dismissed.

Earlier this year, Watson was sentenced to 45 days in prison, given release in recognition of time spent in custody before trail, when he had pleaded guilty to mischief and breaching probation. In his suit against Maurice he seeks damages for pain and suffering and for lost employment opportunities. A FundRazr campaign was initiated to raise funds for Maurice to help him pay his legal bills. A fund to which the province's premier made his own personal contribution.

Jessica Maurice, Edouard Maurice and one of their children  E.Maurice

Watson claims the injury he suffered as a result of a bullet ricocheting and hitting his arm left him with "severe damages and liability", and is suing Maurice for $100,000. One of two intruders that dark night in November of 2018, neither Watson nor his companion heeded Maurice's call to get away from his truck and leave his property. They simply continued rummaging through the truck, leading Maurice to decide an overhead warning shot might do the trick.

It did. They left, but not before Watson suffered the penalty, however accidental, of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Inexplicable Human Rights Defences

"It's been very stressful -- I couldn't understand why I had a complaint against me."
"When it comes to inviting someone into your home to look after your children you should be able to ask any question necessary."
Danielle, Edmonton mother [last name withheld]

The written human rights complaint filed in April 2019 by James Cyrynowski of Edmonton. (Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms)

"We believe that there's no human right to babysit another person's children and that the anxiety that these kind of cases are causing to parents is something that should and can be avoided."
"It's just a question of basic information about a person and for someone to view these questions as prohibited, or for the Human Rights Act to be interpreted in that manner, certainly goes against common sense."
"It goes against the rights of parents to make reasonably informed decisions about the care of their children and it really is an intrusion violating freedom of expression."
"It is a sad state of affairs when numerous Alberta parents are subjected to the stress of the Alberta Human Rights Commission process simply for seeking to make informed decisions for the care of their own children."
"We encourage any parents facing these complaints to contact us to receive help free of charge in defending against this state overreach into their personal lives."
Marty Moore, staff lawyer,  Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms

A woman in Edmonton became yet another victim of James Cyurynowski who has filed numerous complaints of discrimination based on gender or other grounds with the Alberta Human Rights Commission. He had applied for babysitting jobs on previous occasions, and when his application had not been accepted, he has resorted to filing human rights complaints on the basis of gender discrimination. Because employers are barred from rejecting a job applicant based on their family status under the province's rights law, this man has taken advantage to file claims against unsuspecting victims.

On the basis of one of his complaints a mother was ordered to pay this man $1,500 in damages. A court battle ensued over the order and the mother won her case, but not before she had suffered the indignity of being charged with discrimination and human rights abuse and suffered through a period of anxiety and victimization of a human rights code gone badly awry. The latest complaint this congenital sociopath has lodged with the Commission is against a single father of young children.

In filing a discrimination suit against Danielle he cited her advertisement on Kijiji of her need to hire someone to care for her children, two to eleven years of age, between the time she had to leave for work and when they were expected at daycare. When Cyrynowski responded citing his early childhood education certificate, a car and the previous nine years looking after children citing his experience experience, she asked whether he had any children of his own.

She explained that she would have had more confidence if he'd had children of his own, that he would be able to care for her children: "like I would relate to another parent easier". In the end she chose someone else, since the other person lived in her neighbourhood, close to the daycare facilities her children attended. Two months on, Cyrynowski reported this woman to the Human Rights Commission with the terse note: "I was asked if I had children. I do not. I didn't get the job."  It is beyond mind-boggling that a rights body can contests a parent's right to select who will care for their children.

Danielle discovered she was in the commission's cross-hairs when she received correspondence informing her the complaint had been accepted, and she was alerted to the official need to defend herself.

Five years earlier in the case of another mother whom Cyrynowski complained to the commission about for similar reasons, because she had advertised for an "older lady" ideally to look after her children, and he hardly fit the bill, but that this was an instance of gender discrimination against Cyrynowski. When the commission director and chief commissioner overruled the finding to accept that case, the Alberta Court of Queen';s Bench and Court of Appeal upheld their decision, while the Supreme Court of Canada refused Cyrynowski's appeal.

In her 2017 ruling, Queen's Bench Justice Dawn Pentelechuk stated it was reasonable to find that having a gender preference was "a bona fide occupational requirement" for services such as babysitting, with the chief commissioner pointing out that the parent-child bond was "one of the most revered relationships recognized in society and law".

That the Alberta Human Rights commission continues to accept this man's string of complaints over parents turning down his applications for child-minding unbelievable in itself. That he has been permitted to torment people in this manner is incredible. This absurdity has been taken up by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, a conservative NGO that has been championing the rights of parents to determine who will look after their children as their temporary proxies.

That this man's search for victims to harass and righteously alert the Human Rights Commission to gender bias in such a sensitive area as people's trust in who will be entrusted with their children's welfare is unspeakably vile. The role of the Human Rights Commission in this errant search for social justice is beyond absurd in their perception of what constitutes an abuse of human rights. For in actual fact, the situation is entirely reversed; this predator is abusing the human rights of parents to make concerned choices for their children's welfare.

The single father of a five- and eight-year-old was searching for someone reliable to care for his children. Ten people responded to the advertisement he had posted on line; one of the respondents was James Cyrynowski. All respondents were asked their age and gender, obvious questions any parent would want to know. In the end no one was hired when the father, identified only by his first name of 'Todd', to protect the identity of his children, realized he had no need of a sitter after all due to changed plans.

Soon afterward an employment discrimination complaint under the Alberta Human Rights Act was filed by Cyrynowski, which stated: "I applied for a job on Kijiji involving babysitting two boys. I got a message 10 minutes later asking for my age and if I’m male or female. I told him I’m male and 28 years old. I never heard back from him since". And so was launched yet another episode of malicious mischief masquerading as a human rights complaint by this serial abuser of human rights.

"I was shocked and bewildered by the complaint", Todd explained of the complaint filed in 2017, processed in May of 2019, and Todd notified officially last month. "I realize now I have to be careful in what I say. I was just trying to get to know the potential babysitters a bit first and would have to do a more detailed follow up later. I ended up not needing a babysitter though, so more follow-up never happened."

A man is facing a human rights complaint after he asked for the age and gender of a potential babysitter for his two children.

Faith Confrontation in a Secular Setting

"At this time, a decision has not been made on how the Commission [Alberta Human Rights Commission] will proceed with this matter."
"The Commission is bound by the decision of the Court of Appeal [which] directs that the matter will go back to the Tribunal to be heard by a new Tribunal."
Cam Steward, spokesman, Alberta Human Rights Commission

"[Our own Charter rights were violated in that the tribunal] failed to differentiate between private and public schools and failed to appreciate that freedom of conscience and religion is assessed differently between the two."
"Public schools have a duty of neutrality, private schools do not."
Webber Academy, private Calgary high school

"[Webber Academy is] a highly respected school, consistently ranking as a top school in Alberta."
"Dr. Nazar testified she asked Dr. Webber if the students could pray in the garage outside, in a corridor, in the basement, behind some trees or even in a closet. Dr. Webber answered no, and said that they must go off the school premises."
"If there was a blizzard outside or if it was too cold to pray, Mr. Sisddique testified that he and Mr. Amir would find a nook or cranny and pray. He felt that this was humiliating."
"The amount of space required for the Muslim prayer as described here is only slightly larger than the space occupied by a person."
Alberta Human Rights Tribunal, 2015

The Court of Appeal of Alberta says the Alberta Human Rights Commission's decision to fine Webber Academy $26,000 for not allowing two Muslim students to pray contained errors. (CBC)

"We welcome students and families of all faiths and beliefs, but we think it's fundamental to our families and students that this be an educational institution where no religious practices are allowed,"
"And in our 21 years of operations, we have had two requests for prayer space — one from a Catholic family which we denied and the other from a Muslim family which we denied."
"We were thrilled to hear today with the decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal with respect to us not having prayer space in our school for any religion and this really supports our position from the beginning at this school where we are going to be a non-denominational, secular school where we welcome all students from all religious backgrounds and cultures which we have here."
Neil Webber, founder, Webber Academy

Two Muslim teens were banned from performing their daily prayers where they had been enrolled, at a private, non-denominational high school, in Calgary. Webber Academy has about a thousand students enrolled from kindergarten to grade 12. Founded by Neil Webber, a retired professor and former provincial cabinet minister in Calgary in 1997, the boys enrolled originally in 2011, were first assured they would be permitted to pray within the school in empty classrooms with the permission of teachers.

That permission was later reversed, and the two boys,14-year-old Naman Siddique and Sarmad Amir, also 14, in grades 9 and 10 were informed the school would no longer permit them to perform their daily prayers which involved a ritual of standing and kneeling. The school informed the boys' mothers, Shabnam Nazar and Farhat Amir of the change in authority, and the mothers appealed to no avail. They then turned to the province's Human Rights Commission which set a tribunal and found, in 2015 that the school had discriminated against the two on the grounds of religious belief.


Mr. Webber's wife Barbara, vice-president of administration, informed Naman Siddique as he prayed in the library that he was forbidden to do so and in so doing "contributed to a sense of shame and humiliation developing in this 14-year-old student", according to the tribunal. Despite being informed they could no longer pray in school premises the boys persisted until they were finally discharged from the school, deposit cheques for the following year returned.

Speaking before the tribunal, Neil Webber "testified he was concerned that there was a 'plan' to force Webber Academy to provide prayer space", failing to impress the tribunal which dismissed his concern. An "overt" Muslim prayer sequence involving a traditional ceremony was simply not acceptable to the secular nature of the school, he testified. That the boys indulged in prayer as their faith required by lying prostrate on knees with hands before them while reciting Koranic passages and other prayers simply did not reflect the school's values.

A lower court judge dismissed the school's appeal while noting that "Webber Academy, to its credit, adopted a public policy of welcoming young people of many faiths and cultures, and to exemplify its policy, published photographs of students with turbans and facial hair even though these practices contravened usual school policies. For some reason, it drew the line at [Islamic] Sunni prayer rituals, conducted in private, in a place that was convenient to the school and the students from time to time."

The Human Rights Commission in 2015 ruled in favour of the families, handing down  a $26,000 fine against Webber Academy. Which spurred the school to go to the Alberta Court of Appeal which overturned the ruling, citing errors in the decision by the tribunal. As well, the appeal judges stated that in their opinion the students were given ample time to schedule prayer outside of school hours. The two families decided to turn to the Supreme Court of Canada, which in turn declined to hear an appeal.

Leaving the Alberta Court of Appeal's ruling on the matter the final word from the courts that had volleyed the case right back to the Human Rights Commission, calling on it to settle the case by calling another tribunal or simply setting it aside. Another tribunal would face the same complaints as the original heard, but would be pressed to pay attention to new issues as ordered by the Alberta Court of Appeal. There is no shortage of parochial Islamic schools available to Muslim students to attend where their prayer time is guaranteed.

Webber Academy in Alberta. Facebook

A Country Divided

"I want to do all we can do to protect this headquarters and protect the thousands of good, well-paying jobs we have at SNC-Lavalin."
"We know that SNC-Lavalin, that they didn’t follow legal rules — in Libya especially — and they have to pay for that, especially the people that were involved. SNC-Lavalin, I met the president, they are ready to put on the table very large amounts of penalty [financial fines]."
"Right now there is no controlling shareholder, so there’s a real risk that this company could be bought by somebody, for example from the U.K. For me, it would be bad news for Quebec."
"Can you [Prime Minister Trudeau] settle as soon as possible in order that we keep those jobs? We need those jobs."

"When I discussed that with Justin Trudeau, I’m not asking him not to punish SNC-Lavalin, I’m just trying to say, can you settle as soon as possible, in order that we keep the jobs. We need those jobs."

Quebec Premier François Legault on the SNC-Lavalin criminal case controversy

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier François Legault before departing for Yerevan, Armenia, at the Ottawa International Airport on Oct. 9, 2018. iPolitics/Matthew Usherwood

"There is no social acceptability for oil in Quebec. We have hydro electricity surpluses. So I'll try to sell them."

"There is no social acceptance for a pipeline that would pass through Quebec territory."

"I am not embarrassed to refuse dirty energy [from Alberta oilsands extraction] while we are offering clean energy [James Bay electricity] at a competitive price."

Quebec Premier Francois Legault

The “United We Roll” convoy of semi-trucks travels the highway near Red Deer, Alta., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, on its way to Ottawa. Jeff McIntosh/THE CANADIAN PRESS

"The main message we are taking to Ottawa with this convoy is that our oil-and-gas sector is in trouble."
"We need a prime minister to be a champion for the industry that has done so much to fuel this country’s prosperity."
"We need to get our pipelines in the ground and soon. We need to abolish Bill C-69 and Bill C-48 and we need the carbon tax abolished."

Glen Carritt, convoy manager

"The carbon tax is killing us, our small town of Bonnyville is curling up and dying."

We've been told to hang on from our government, from five years ago, many, many people that we know and love up there, that we considered newfound oilfield family have moved, they've gone home, bankrupt."

"They're not only bankrupt financially, they're bankrupt emotionally."

Roberta Graham, Alberta protester, United We Roll group

The “United We Roll” convoy of semi-trucks prepares to leave Red Deer, Alta., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, on its way to Ottawa to draw attention to a lack of support for the energy sector and lack of pipelines. Jeff McIntosh/THE CANADIAN PRESS

The six-day trip by road in large transport and semi-trailers has set out to mount their protest; a message from Alberta and Saskatchewan to Ottawa, that the Canadian Western provinces whose economy has buoyed Canada's economy and hugely, disproportionately supported Canada's equalization payments to the 'have-not' provinces like Quebec, are losing vital infrastructure, investment, employment and hope and will no longer stand for being shunted aside.

The trip from Red Deer to Regina, on to Kenora, Ontario, to Sault Ste. Marie, then Arnprior and finally Parliament Hill to be reached on the 19th is on its sway. The protest is not only about the shut-down of Canadian oil transport by pipeline then tanker, but includes complaints respecting 'open borders' and illegal migrants, and Saudi oil imports and the failure of the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau to build the Trans Mountain pipeline. 

In putting roadblocks in the way of pipelines to transfer oil to deepwater ports like British Columbia which ships out more dirty-burning, environmentally disabling coal than any other place in North America [yet adamantly refuses to allow an oil pipeline to go through the province from Alberta], Canada's oil industry is faltering, and income from discounted oil sales because of delivery failures has caused an economic crisis that is unsustainable. Pressure is on Ottawa to regard the fortunes of the Western provinces as fondly as the Liberals do Quebec/

The Liberal voting base is basically Quebec. There is a paltry three seats for the Liberals in Alberta, one in Saskatchewan and seven in Manitoba, a whisper of a presence in the Prairies. But the United We Roll convoy is determined to deliver their message to Ottawa in as forceful a way as possible: the future of the oil and gas industry is vital to the well-being of the country and the current stalemate that has crippled the industry has victimized too many Western Canadians with uncertainty about the future through mass unemployment. 

Glen Carritt, organizer of United We Roll convoy spoke of more trucks joining his convoy as it crossed Manitoba and entered Ontario. A convoy from Newfoundland estimated at 50-strong would also join up once in Ontario, making up for those lost to the convoy when it completed its first day rolling across the country because not everyone was able to take the requisite time it would take to drive across the country, after completing the first leg of the journey. Of the original number that set out 70 remained steadfast in the convoy. 

Along the route the convoy drivers came across supporters holding signs of encouragement and Canadian flags as they drove past. Those unable to join the convoy supported it financially through donations made with a GoFundMe campaign which gathered in $80,000 on the first day of the convoy's trip. "I can't make my own trip down to Ottawa myself, so I figured that the fuel I would burn I may as well hand it off to somebody else. It's just a little part that I figured I could do and try to help out I guess", explained Kelly Keil in his black Dodge pickup, handing out gallon containers of diesel fuel. 

While temperatures fell below -20C, even in the middle of nowhere supporters waited, waved, took photographs and cheered the convoy on. The carbon tax is a particular irritant to rural Canadians lacking an option to take public transit or those who depend on heavy machinery for work. The cancellation of the Energy East pipeline and the Northern Gateway, then the halt of the Trans Mountain expansion by a Federal Court of Appeal ruling has disheartened all too many.

Leader of the Parliamentary official opposition, Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer is scheduled to join Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe in Moosomin, near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border for an associated rally. Polling in January from the Angus Reid Institute found almost two-thirds of Canadians view the lack of pipeline capacity in Canada as representative of a crisis. Quebec, with no agreeing majority saw 40 percent in agreement.

The Quebec Premier wails about the possibility of the corrupt activities of SNC-Lavalin earning it a guilty verdict in its criminal trial, resulting in a ten-year loss of government contracts, ending up with bankruptcy and thousands of jobs being lost for Quebecers. This is the same provincial leader who scorned the need for an energy east pipeline contaminating Quebec soil, a province that yearly takes in millions of tax dollars extracted from Alberta in equalization payments, yet has no concern that Alberta is suffering a loss of revenues and jobs.

More than 150 vehicles of various sizes took off from Red Deer Thursday morning en route to Ottawa. Robin Grant/Red Deer Express

A Federation of Like-Minded Provinces

"He clearly doesn't understand what is happening in the energy sector in Alberta at this point in time."
"We have been innovators in removing carbon from the barrel -- we are going to continue to be innovators -- So I don't think the premier of Quebec understands at this point that Alberta's energy sector is leading in terms of the enhancements of the carbon molecule."
"We need to start operating as one country, as opposed to many provinces who are looking out for their own individual interests."
"Equalization does not work for Alberta."
Joe Ceci, Alberta finance minister

"[There's no] social acceptability [for a pipeline that would carry] dirty energy [through the province of Quebec."
Quebec Premier Francois Legault

"[Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's tanker ban on coastal British Columbia strips Indigenous people of economic self-determination]. Is this what reconciliation is supposed to represent in Canada?"
"All we're trying to do is take advantage of the resources available to us."
"They're [Indigenous protesters backed by activist organizations] just puppets and props for American environmental groups."
"We can produce oil in the oilpatch with a smaller carbon footprint than almost any producer on the planet."
"[Federal C-48 bill is a matter of] enormous concern [for the 200 First Nations communities the coalition represents]."
Calvin Helin, CEO, Eagle Spirit Energy Holding, Lax Kw'alaams Band member

Oil production keeps rising in Alberta, driven largely by oilsands development. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)

Alberta has failed for years to have necessary pipelines to carry away increasing oilsands production, a matter of intense frustration since it means an enormous loss of revenues. Because of the province's inability to efficiently dispatch its petroleum products for sale abroad, its oil barrels sell for vastly discounted prices that lead to multiple millions of dollars lost daily. Eagle Spirit Energy Holdings, representing a consortium of First Nations bands has plans to build a $18-billion pipeline to carry oil from Northern Alberta to Prince Rupert, B.C.

The absurdity of eastern Canada using oil imported from Saudi Arabia, rather than having Alberta oil shipped from western Canada to the east, is unspeakably inefficient, much less nonsensical. Buying oil from a questionable moral choice rather than using Canada's own natural resources is beyond unreasonable. The National Chiefs Coalition is prepared, they claim, to file a complaint in "coming days" under the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples against the federal government for placing obstacles in the way of their shipping Alberta oil to tidewater.

Prime Minister Trudeau has pledged to see Canada's dependence on oil vastly diminished. He introduced a ban on tanker traffic in 2015 simultaneously with axing the Northern Gateway pipeline while approving the Trans Mountain pipeline, but has done just about everything in his power since then, including new intrusive legislation to frustrate pipeline investors, to the point where the owners of Trans Mountain simply gave up after years of negotiations, investment and work. The public fallout from that spurred the federal government to 'buy' the pipeline project for Canada.

It's impossible to guess when that pipeline will be up and running, since the federal government, with full intention, has thrown roadblocks in the way of it coming on stream anytime soon. Court action has ordered the federal government back to the planning stages, to more fully 'consult' with all First Nations bands whose geography would be impacted, and to institute regulations fully commensurate with protecting Canada's waterways and oceans from the potential of oil spills.

Since cuts were announced, Western Canadian Select crude has surged to almost US$41 a barrel, about US$11 less than the West Texas Intermediate futures price. The price difference between WCS and WTI was as wide as US$50 a barrel in October     Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press files

TransCanada Corporation had proposed a $15.7-billion pipeline, Energy East, to carry western crude through Quebec to New Brunswick to be shipped overseas, but ended up abandoning the project citing market changes, red tape, and objections from Quebec. New Brunswick is disappointed, and so is Ontario, where Saudi oil and gas is burned, not Alberta's. Alberta has been left to struggle with economic consequences of an oil-price glut collapsing prices, putting up with a deep discount on western Canadian crude resulting from transportation constraints which has led the province to cut production.

Alberta, despite its economic downturn in the constant loss of oil revenue, is considered a "have" province under the federal equalization program designed to help poorer {have-not" designated provincial governments to provide public services comparable to all other provinces. Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador are all now exempted from equalization payments, while the remaining provinces (and territories) qualify for economic relief.

Alberta is in a deficit position, Quebec can celebrate balancing their books with a surplus, but it will receive two-thirds of the total equalization kitty, at $13.1 billion. Quebec's refusal to allow a pipeline to ship Alberta crude to markets abroad results in Alberta realizing a steep loss of revenue, but it is largely from Alberta that the equalization kitty remains robust, and Quebec gets fully funded through the equalization program, a gross, immoral anomaly.

Western Canadian oil industry is losing at least $100M every day, according to analyst   CBC