In 1928, the non-partisan United Farmers of Alberta passed the first Sexual Sterilization Act. The UFA’s successor, the Social Credit Party, led by radio evangelist William Aberhart, and later by his protege 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 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.
About the Author
Few writers cross between literary, popular, research, online, print, and public relations writing as adeptly as Jane Harris-Zsovan does. She distills complex research into engaging scenes and shows human faces behind abstract history, social issues & business theory. Harris’s books include Finding Home in the Promised Land, Eugenics and the Firewall, and Stars Appearing. In 2012, Jane received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her work as National Social Media Coordinator of the Monarchist League of Canada.
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