Chestermere-Rocky View MLA and Education Critic Bruce McAllister said new Education Minister Gordon Dirks past record as a Calgary Board of Education (CBE) trustee put bureaucrats ahead of students.
According to McAllister, in 2008 Dirks put forward a motion to approve the 20-year lease of a $285-million facility to act as the new headquarters for CBE. McAllister said a leaked document suggested Dirks made the motion despite knowing the move would divert funds intended to go towards maintenance and school operations.
“Minister Dirks pushed for this palatial headquarters for the CBE, knowing full well that it came at the expense of students in the classroom,” McAllister said in a press release.
The unelected minister has also come under fire from critics for his ties to Centre Street Church in Calgary. On his social media accounts, Dirks lists executive pastor (on leave) as part of his past experience.
The criticism comes from the church’s alleged anti-gay views. In the church’s Statement of Theological Principals and Ministry Practices it states, “God intends marriage to be a monogamous, life-long union between a male and a female who are each living in the physical gender in which they were born.”
Though Dirks was unavailable for comment before press time, he has been active on his social media accounts.
On Sept. 17, Dirks tweeted, “I stand behind my record of solid fiscal management (at) CBE. As trustee (and) Chair wiped $28M inherited debt & balanced budget 11 straight yrs.”
On Sept. 16, he met with Kristopher Wells, director of programming and services for the Institute of Sexual Minorities Studies and Services at the University of Alberta. According to Dirks social media account, the meeting was to “discuss the importance of diversity and mutual respect in schools.”
“No room for any intolerance in (Alberta education) (Alberta legislature),” Dirks tweeted.
Rocky View Schools (RVS) Chair Colleen Munro said at the Sept. 18 board of trustees meeting that she did not think the appointment of a new education minister would impact the board priorities.
“It’s about building the relationship again,” she said. “We were lucky because we had a very cordial relationship with (former education minister) Jeff Johnson. We look forward to building a relationship with Minister Dirks.”
RVS lists: providing adequate and targeted funding for new schools and modernizations, ensuring equitable access to education, securing regional child and family supports, and expanding mental health services for children and youth, as the board priorities for 2013 to 2017.
Premier Jim Prentice moved the opening of the fall sitting of the legislature to Nov. 2 to allow for appointed unelected cabinet ministers, such as Dirks, to run in by-elections.
It is expected Dirks will run in the fall in the Calgary-Elbow riding left vacant my former premier Alison Redford.
