EDMONTON, Mar 12 (LSN) – Alberta Premier Ralph Klein and his Tory government backed away from a plan to invoke the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause to restrict compensation for 700 people who were made infertile under government sterilization policies between 1928 and 1972. The rejected legislation unveiled two days ago would have forced the courts to limit possible future court awards to a maximum of $150,000 for each of the 700 victims, who were classed as “mental defectives.” The victims were made sterile on the order of a government-appointed eugenics board to ensure they could not produce “defective children.” In response to a massive public outcry (Klein’s office fielded more than 250 negative calls on the issue by mid-morning), Justice Minister Jon Havelock announced today, “Our government will not be proceeding further with Bill 26.” Klein admitted to a mistake saying, “I was out of tune yesterday. My political sense probably didn’t click into gear.”
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KLEIN BACKS DOWN ON LIMITING PAYMENTS TO EUGENICS VICTIMS
EDMONTON, Mar 12 (LSN) – Alberta Premier Ralph Klein and his Tory government backed away from a plan to invoke the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause to restrict compensation for 700 people who were made infertile under government sterilization policies between 1928 and 1972. The rejected legislation unveiled two days ago would have forced the courts to limit possible future court awards to a maximum of $150,000 for each of the 700 victims, who were classed as “mental defectives.” The victims were made sterile on the order of a government-appointed eugenics board to ensure they could not produce “defective children.” In […]
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