AHEA’s Role in the Formation of the HSLDA of Canada
by Michael Wagner
Many Alberta parents became interested in home
schooling during the 1980s. Because of this growing
interest, the new Alberta School Act of 1988 explicitly
recognized home schooling for the first time. However, that
did not mean that home educating families would always
encounter smooth sailing. There was still a lot of resistance
from public education authorities and government officials
in the province.
Home schooling had emerged as a significant
educational movement in the United States before it became
popular in Canada. But there was considerable opposition to
the movement in that country and many American parents
experienced conflict with school authorities. In 1983 two
Christian lawyers, Michael Farris and Michael Smith, formed
the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) to
provide assistance to parents in such circumstances and to
work on behalf of home educators generally. HSLDA was
very successful in its efforts and it played a key role in
establishing the freedom to home educate in all fifty states.
HSLDA into Canada?
Some Canadian home schooling parents admired the
work of HSLDA and wished that it could operate in Canada
as well. Dave and Aline Stasiewich, the two people most
responsible for the formation of the Alberta Home Education
Association (AHEA), also took the initiative to get HSLDA
established in this country.
AHEA was officially founded in 1986, and by 1988 Dave
and Aline were already working to get HSLDA into Canada.
HSLDA was sympathetic to this idea, but wanted to be sure
that there was sufficient interest among Canadian home
schoolers for such a venture.
In the September/October 1988 issue of the AHEA
Newsletter, Dave Stasiewich (at that time AHEA’s president)
appealed to the membership to indicate their support for
HSLDA. He wrote, “Home School Legal Defence would like
names of 400 families willing to join for a fee of around $150
per year to make it economically feasible for a Canadian
counterpart to get established. This is more than insurance!!!
This is helping all home schooling families. If one responsible
home educating family goes to court and wins, we all win. If
such a family loses, we will all lose something.”
Michael Farris on Alberta’s law
In 1990, Aline Stasiewich sent a copy of Alberta’s School
HOME Matters Winter 2015
Act and home education regulations to Michael Farris, the
president of HSLDA. In his letter replying to Aline, Farris
expressed dissatisfaction with both the law and regulations.
He wrote: “This law and the regulations which follow are
extremely undesirable. The school officials have entirely too
much discretion and subjective control over home schoolers.
This system of home school regulation is inconsistent with
the principles of western democracy and freedom. One
man’s freedom should never be subjected to the discretion
of another man’s opinion, even if he is a government official.”
The Alberta law was so bad, in fact, that Farris would
disobey it: “If I were living in a country with such a system of
regulation I would, as a Christian, be forced to violate such
a law because it causes me to disobey the law of God.” As
he succinctly stated the matter, “It is my personal opinion
that the Alberta law requires Christians to violate Scripture.”
Should Home Schoolers Obey The Law?
A copy of Farris’s letter was printed in the first AHEA
Newsletter of 1991. That issue of the newsletter also
contained an article by him entitled “Should Home Schoolers
Obey The Law?” It was already clear from his letter to Aline
Stasiewich that he believed there were occasions when laws
needed to be disobeyed. This article provided his rationale
for that position.
When Farris and his wife Vickie began home schooling in
1982 in Washington State, the law required home schooling
parents to be state-certified teachers. Although Vickie had
been trained as a teacher, her certification had expired and
obtaining permanent certification would have required time
commitments that made being a full-time mother impossible.
Believing that God wanted Vickie to be a full-time mother
and to home school the children, they decided to disobey
the law because it contradicted God’s will.
Farris presented a very simple principle regarding these
matters: “When state law bans home schooling, the spiritual
question is easy: If you believe that God requires you to
home school, you must disobey man’s law.”
In most cases states and provinces do not ban home
schooling outright, so the issue isn’t so clear cut. Instead of
prohibiting the practice, they enact rules that inhibit parental
liberty. How should parents deal with laws and regulations
that place restrictions or limitations on aspects of home
schooling? This is a little more complicated. But the basic
principle is: “You should obey man’s law unless God has
- 20 -
clearly directed you otherwise.” The principle could likewise
be stated this way: “If obeying the law would cause you to
violate a command clearly given you by God in His Word,
then you should undoubtedly choose to disobey the law.”
Farris also counseled Christian home educators not to
seek “approval” from the government in those jurisdictions
where they were expected to do so. When home schoolers
ask for “approval,” they are implicitly recognizing the authority
of the government to say “no.” But the government does not
have the authority to deny parents the right to home educate,
so it’s wrong to imply they do have such authority. Instead of
asking for approval, home educators should instead provide
a “notice of intent to home school.” Notifying is very different
from seeking approval: “This means that you courteously
inform the official what you plan to do as opposed to asking
him for permission.”
There have been times (in Alberta and elsewhere) when
home educators were faced with the choice of obeying God
or man. The answer to that dilemma is clear for those who
love God and His Word: “We ought to obey God rather than
men” (Acts 5:29).
In July 1991, Michael Farris was the guest speaker
for AHEA’s convention. About 200 people attended the
meeting. AHEA’s board continued to appeal for support for
an HSLDA branch in Canada. In the last 1991 issue of the
AHEA Newsletter, AHEA president Ray Strom wrote: “As
an executive, we strongly encourage our membership
to support the HSLDA. FREEDOMS UNPROTECTED
ARE FREEDOMS LOST and we have a great responsibility
to protect the freedoms of parents, in Canada, to home
educate their children in a way that is not over-controlled
by the government and its representatives.”
HSLDA of Canada is Formed
In September 1991, the Home School Legal Defence
Association, Ltd. was incorporated in Alberta. The board had
three Canadians: Dave Stasiewich, Dave Reinhart, and Ian
Penoyer, all from Alberta; as well as two Americans, Michael
Farris and Michael Smith, the president and vice-president,
respectively, of HSLDA in the United States. At this early
period, the business of HSLDA of Canada was conducted
from HSLDA’s U.S. office in Virginia.
The first meeting of the Canadian board occurred on
January 25, 1992. According to Dave Stasiewich, both
Michael Farris and Michael Smith were “appalled” at
Alberta’s home education laws.
The new Canadian organization began producing and
distributing brochures to spread awareness of its existence
- 21 -
and recruit member families. But the response was far
from adequate at that point. In the first AHEA Newsletter of
1992, Dave Stasiewich wrote: “Many H.S. families across
the country have approached Michael Farris and myself
requesting legal help in Canada. Now that the association
is established, we need members. The numbers to date
are very low. We need two thousand Canadian families to
be self sufficient. We urge you to please act immediately.”
The need for HSLDA of Canada was not just
hypothetical. Its help was in demand right away. Already
in 1992 there were families requiring legal assistance.
HSLDA’s U.S. magazine Home School Court Report noted:
“During March several families from Alberta contacted
HSLDA lawyers reporting problems with official demands
that school personnel visit homes and the imposition of
burdensome testing requirements. HSLDA attorneys were
able to convince school officials that provincial law does not
authorize home visits.”
In 1994, HSLDA of Canada hired Dallas Miller to be its
first staff lawyer. An HSLDA office was established in Dallas’
home city of Medicine Hat, Alberta. Later, in 2003, Paul
Faris was hired to assist Dallas in the Medicine Hat office.
When Dallas retired in 2005, Paul became the president and
legal counsel of HSLDA. The office was moved to London,
Ontario. Dallas was subsequently appointed a judge of the
Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench.
Conclusion
The early leaders of AHEA left an enduring mark on the
whole country by forming HSLDA of Canada. A legal team
was permanently established to defend parental rights in
all ten of the provinces. In this sense, the fire of educational
liberty that had ignited in Alberta would sweep the entire
nation.
The creation of HSLDA would forever change the
landscape of educational politics in Canada. Home
educators now had a vigilant defender of parental rights to
protect their freedoms.
Michael Wagner is a
home schooling father and
an independent researcher
and writer. He is the author of
Christian Citizenship Guide:
Christianity and Canadian
Political Life and Leaving God
Behind: The Charter of Rights and Canada’s Official
Rejection of Christianity. He has a PhD in Political Science
from the University of Alberta and lives in Edmonton with
his wife and eleven children.
HOME Matters Winter 2015