Education Minister David Eggen was in Grande Prairie on Friday to talk about racism. Eggen met with city officials and community members to get their thoughts on what he could add to a report he has been working on since last year. He says Premier Rachel Notley tasked him with the initial project.
“The Premier of Alberta asked me to build a paper that we could use to help fight racism in Alberta. So I’ve been working with that and looking for next steps along the way.”
This was Eggen’s second visit to the city. After his first visit in 2017, he created a grant program for local organizations working to fight racism. He also started an Anti-racism Advisory Council which will be tasked with things like working to create a more inclusive school curriculum. Eggen says updating the curriculum is a great place to start on the road to ending racism.
“Education is the best place to be positive about this. To have the next generation with a stronger curriculum and an understanding of what it means to accept other cultures and to understand inclusivity.
Eggen will now continue his tour through the province. He hopes to continue to implement more programs along the way including working towards building a province-wide hate crimes unit.