Can Catholic teachers be compelled to teach sex education? Catholic teachers and Nova Scotia's sex manual Part III.

With loads of government funding and teams of health department bureaucrats, Planned Parenthood authored and widely distributed a sex manual in Nova Scotia in 2004. Targeting children and students aged 12 to 17, PP distributed the manual in pharmacies, doctor's offices and even grocery stores such as Sobeys. They purchased large blocks of advertising on radio stations and tried to force school boards to distribute the manual, which most did.

When met with resistance from one school board, however, they began their guerilla warfare. One public health nurse, in defiance of the school board, handed out arm loads of the manuals to children in a playground. Now Planned Parenthood is pushing for "health clinics" in Nova Scotia's schools, attempting to skid through on worthy issues such as prevention of drug addiction--and never mentioning that what they are really doing is selling contraceptives, abortions and ideology to our children. In Nova Scotia all schools are public; there are no Catholic schools.

The manual contains erroneous and exaggerated statistics touting the (supposed) effectiveness of contraception. It minimizes the harmful effects of sexual diseases, and promotes ideologies clearly at odds with good morals. It promotes sexual activity with a relativistic view of morality that holds there is no one truth. It recommends contraceptive devices, abortifacients, homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion, anal intercourse, and other deviant sexual practices. It shows pornographic depictions of sex acts.

Schools have become the battleground for a very good reason: a captive audience. Children are governed by teachers and administrators who exert power over them, require them to be in attendance, and undertake a precise course of learning. While the sex manual has been available in stores, offices and playgrounds across the region, Planned Parenthood still runs the risk that the manual will not be read and fully absorbed by students. PP must get its anti-life, anti-child ideology firmly planted in the minds of students if it is to convince them to join its voluntary eugenics program. It is particularly abhorrent when children, who are generally trusting of authority and who do not have the intellectual faculties to distinguish truth from clever marketing, are subjected to these programs.

The rights of teachers and parents

Needless to say, the manual is violently at odds with the Catholic faith. The question is: if this is taught in schools, must Catholic teachers, parents and their children participate?

What are the rights, therefore, of Catholic teachers and students?

Human rights legislation in each province in Canada gives substantial protection. With respect to teachers, the Human Rights Act of Nova Scotia states:

Prohibition of discrimination

5(1) No person shall in respect of (a) the provision of or access to services or facilities; [or] (d) employment; discriminate against an individual or class of individuals on account of (k) religion.

In interpreting human rights legislation, Canadian courts have identified not only the direct discrimination prohibited in the clause above, but adverse effect discrimination. A case of direct discrimination would be, for example, if the government were to enact a policy stating specifically that "Catholics cannot be hired as teachers." The policy would eliminate all Catholics from the opportunity to teach in the public school system. Such policies would be clearly prohibited by the Act.

By its nature, however, discrimination is often a subtle, lurking force. Courts have therefore found it necessary to identify and prohibit actions which have the effect of discriminating against Catholics, but which do not necessarily identify Catholics per se. For example, if the government enacted a policy in which it required all prospective nurses to assist in abortions, the policy would have the effect of eliminating all faithful, practising Catholics from employment opportunities. This aspect of discrimination can be difficult to identify. Height requirements, for example, have been found to have the effect of discriminating against women and persons of oriental descent for military, police and piloting opportunities.

History

Historically, adverse effect discrimination has been the tool of choice in targeting Catholics. Until 1829 Catholics were effectively prevented from holding public office in Nova Scotia because of the "Test Act," which required them to renounce their belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Catholics were not specifically named by the statute, but the effect of the statute was intended to prevent any faithful Catholic from holding office.

Likewise, a school board that requires a Catholic to teach the sex manual is engaging in adverse effect discrimination. The core beliefs of a Catholic are directly contradicted by the manual. A faithful Catholic who could not, in conscience, teach the material, would be suffering the effect of employment discrimination by being forced to choose between job or faith. The prejudicial effect of losing one's job in this context arises inexorably from the fact that the teacher is a Catholic.

It is important, however, to identify the limits of such rights. If a school board were to attempt to hire a teacher whose job would be primarily concerned with teaching the sex manual, a Catholic could not apply for the job and then fail to perform the essential elements of the employment by claiming discrimination. Allowances are made in law for what are called bonafide occupational qualifications which allow for an exemption from what some might consider ostensibly discriminatory. A Hindu could not claim discrimination for not being hired to teach a catechism class. A Catholic doctor could not claim discrimination for not being hired to work in a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Likewise, there are limits placed on persons who, in a claim of discrimination, attempt to accomplish what amounts to a denial of the rights of the members of an organization or association. The "Coquitlam Knights of Columbus" case in British Columbia, for example, involved two lesbians who covertly booked the Knights' hall. Under human rights law, the Knights of Columbus have the right to prevent such couples from renting the premises because human rights law seeks to balance the rights of religious groups with the rights of non-religious people who can be easily accommodated elsewhere.

It is also important to remember the relevance of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in such questions. The Charter, contrary to public perception, has no basic legal relevance in private disputes. An employee who has his or her conscience violated by a private employer has no remedy in the Charter.

The Charter only governs relationships between private citizens and governments (all three levels). If the employer, however, also happens to be a government authority, the Charter may apply. Canadian case law identifies "quasi-governmental" employers of which provincial school boards, universities and hospitals have been held to qualify. In addition to the above protections of human rights law, therefore, there would be additional protections in the Charter for the teacher of our original example. The Charter's Section 2 states:

2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:

(a) freedom of conscience and religion.

No government authority can violate this right of its citizens, in the enactment of its laws, in its employment policies, or in its delivery of services. Students therefore also have the right to be free of a government compelling them to attend classes in which Planned Parenthood's moral agenda is taught.

For those who are enduring such pressure, either as Catholic students or teachers, a possible option is to file a human rights complaint. No lawyer is necessary and civil servants are available to guide a complainant through the process. The human rights process is generally considered by Catholics to be a tool used by interest groups (such as PP) to oppress Catholics, but sometimes justice can be obtained. The Catholic Civil Rights League (www.ccrl.ca) is an avenue of support and encouragement.

Alexander MacDonald is a lawyer, writer and human rights activist in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He is also a national director of the Catholic Civil Rights League and the President of his local Antigonish CCRL chapter. His first novel, The White Irises, has recently been released by DreamCatcher Publishing in Saint John, NB.