June 2, 1972 The newly elected Progressive Conservative government of Alberta, headed by Premier Peter Lougheed, showed a strong commitment to the protection of individual rights. In addition to passing the Individual Rights Protection Act and the Communal Property Act, Lougheed’s conservatives moved to quickly eliminate the Sexual Sterilization Act, attacking it on legal and moral grounds.

Speaking before the legislation, Lougheed explained that the government feels “very, very strongly that the bill is offensive and at odds with the proposed [Alberta] Bill of Rights.” David King, the MLA who introduced the bill for repeal, had the following to say:

The act violates fundamental human rights. We are provided with an act, the basis of which is a presumption that society, or at least the government, knows what kind of people can be allowed children and what kind of people cannot. […] It is our view that this is a reprehensible and intolerable philosophy and program for this province and this government.

-Amy Dyrbye & Caroline Lyster

• Clément, D. (2013). Alberta’s right revolution. British Journal of Canadian Studies 26(1), 59-77. Retrieved from http://www.historyofrights.com/PDF/article_BJCS.PDF.

• Government of Alberta. (1972). The Sexual Sterilization Repeal Act. Retrieved from http://www.ourfutureourpast.ca/law/page.aspx?id=2930991.

• Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_Sterilization_Act_of_Alberta.