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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Time rolls on by like a steamroller that one
cannot stop, and, on the West Coast of Canada at least, spring
has sprung. We have snowdrops and crocuses galore! I have
just come from an exciting 4-day conference in Vancouver on
Autism. Our second child (now almost 22) is autistic. I learned
many things that I didn't know before from some very educated
and learned people.
I know that you have profited from the information
in this newsletter. There is so much to learn. Here in B.C.,
for example, we have a confusing issue regarding our public
education system. Last April, our provincial government (Liberals)
signed a secret agreement with two homosexual men giving them
unprecedented power:
- To recommend homosexual consultants who
the Ministry of Education must use in the review and development
of curriculum in all subject areas;
- To create a new optional Grade 12 Social
Justice Course to include homosexuality; and
- To confirm that parents may only remove
their children from a select few classes if the teaching
is morally objectionable according to the family's values
and beliefs.
The homosexuals who signed the agreement have
said that B.C. public school children are now a captive audience
in all but a few subject areas. And although all 76 school
boards have been asked to confirm that parents' rights to
remove their children will be respected in the local school
districts, only a few school boards have responded. None of
the responses seem reassuring. In spite of this, government
officials in the Attorney General's Office and the Ministry
of Education deny that this contract has undermined the rights
of parents to direct the education of their children. Government
officials are inviting our input as well. This issue bears
further watching, and requires that parents become involved.
The reason I share this information is to
encourage each of you to make sure that you know your Member
of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) or Member of the Provincial
Parliament (MPP) as well as you know your MP. These men and
women are elected by us to represent us. Your Member of Parliament
(MP) needs to know what is important to you, but so does the
local representative of your provincial Legislature. Otherwise,
you might find, as did Vancouverites in the last local elections,
that the strongest Mayoral candidate believed that brothels
should be legalized to protect women!
We live to be salt and light to a confused
and dying world around us. It is not our responsibility to
win the battle - only to be faithful to the task of speaking
the truth in love where we have been called. Speak up with
courage, tact and wisdom. Your children and grandchildren
will thank you.
Until next time.
Laurie
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