By Jane Harris-Zsovan
It’s a dirty little secret the heirs to Alberta’s popu-list legacy don’t want Canadians to talk about. In 1928 the non-partisan United Farmers of Al-berta passed the first Sexual Sterilization Act. The UFA’s successor, the Social Credit part, led by a radio-evangelist William Aberhart, and later by his protégé Ernest Manning, removed the need to obtain consent to sterilize “mental defectives” or Huntington’s Chorea patients with dementia.
Between 1928 and 1972 nearly three thousand citizens were sterilized, lied to, experimented on, and subjected to daily abuse at the hands of provincial staff in Alberta. Most Albertans have forgotten the victims whose names made headlines in the 1990s, and politicians and pundits have shown little empathy for the victims.
The Eugenics Board horror story has largely been buried in Canada’s mainstream national media. Conservative bloggers and columnists in Canada continue to blame the Liberals and CCF for Canada’s barbaric eugenics program. The tar sands, oil royalties, health care budgets, envi-ronmental policies, and making sure the province’s interests remain high on the federal agenda top the provincial headlines.
But the questions must be answered: How did a province that claims that “strong and free” as its motto deny basic freedoms to so many of its own citizens? Why does the extent of Alberta’s eugenics past and its link to the UFA/Social Credit legacy remain the unacknowledged moral blind spots in Canadian politics?
It’s time to set the record straight.
“A valuable addition to modern Canadian historical studies. I hope it comes to the atten-tion of professors, so that it can be included in reading lists. One of the most important aspects, as you can tell from the review, is your inclusion of the modern debate on eugenic practices,” —Ian Stewart, Writer, Book Reviewer for the Winnipeg Free Press
About the Author
Jane Harris Zsovan is a Canadian author and journalist. She writes for national and regional periodicals about business, faith, politics and social issues. Her books include Eugenics and the Firewall: Canada’s Nasty Little Secret and Stars Appearing: The Galts’ Vision of Canada.
Eugenics and the Firewall: Canada’s Nasty Little Secret
Book Marketplace
It’s a dirty little secret the heirs to Alberta’s popu-list legacy don’t want Canadians to talk about. In 1928 the non-partisan United Farmers of Al-berta passed the first Sexual Sterilization Act. The UFA’s successor, the Social Credit part, led by a radio-evangelist William Aberhart, and later by his protégé Ernest Manning, removed the need to obtain consent to sterilize “mental defectives” or Huntington’s Chorea patients with dementia.
Between 1928 and 1972 nearly three thousand citizens were sterilized, lied to, experimented on, and subjected to daily abuse at the hands of provincial staff in Alberta. Most Albertans have forgotten the victims whose names made headlines in the 1990s, and politicians and pundits have shown little empathy for the victims.
The Eugenics Board horror story has largely been buried in Canada’s mainstream national media. Conservative bloggers and columnists in Canada continue to blame the Liberals and CCF for Canada’s barbaric eugenics program. The tar sands, oil royalties, health care budgets, envi-ronmental policies, and making sure the province’s interests remain high on the federal agenda top the provincial headlines.
But the questions must be answered: How did a province that claims that “strong and free” as its motto deny basic freedoms to so many of its own citizens? Why does the extent of Alberta’s eugenics past and its link to the UFA/Social Credit legacy remain the unacknowledged moral blind spots in Canadian politics?
It’s time to set the record straight.
“A valuable addition to modern Canadian historical studies. I hope it comes to the atten-tion of professors, so that it can be included in reading lists. One of the most important aspects, as you can tell from the review, is your inclusion of the modern debate on eugenic practices,” —Ian Stewart, Writer, Book Reviewer for the Winnipeg Free Press
Jane Harris Zsovan is a Canadian author and journalist. She writes for national and regional periodicals about business, faith, politics and social issues. Her books include Eugenics and the Firewall: Canada’s Nasty Little Secret and Stars Appearing: The Galts’ Vision of Canada.