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It was chilling, ugly statement. The Catholic board is publicly funded. It has a legal duty to “allow” transgender students in its classrooms. If trustees don’t feel they can do that, the time may indeed have come to consider whether a publicly-funded Catholic school system is still tenable in this province.

But there’s also another issue here, perhaps even more pressing. Tuesday’s meeting revealed the Edmonton Catholic board as hopelessly dysfunctional. Trustees on both sides of the issue embarrassed themselves with their lack of respect for each other and for their roles. Board chair Debbie Engel seemed utterly unable to control the meeting or her own temper. The meeting itself fell apart, with many other important agenda items left hanging.

Watching that performance, it’s hard to see how this particular group of personalities could debate the most mundane issue without vitriol and melodrama.

That leaves Eggen in a political fix. He has considerable justification to disband the board right now. But that would be a heavy-handed move for a new minister and government. These are, after all, the trustees that Catholic voters elected. Those electors will have the power to fire the trustees next election, if they choose. If Eggen dissolves the board too soon, he runs the risk of creating the impression that he’s punishing them simply for dragging their feet on the transgender file — when all they’ve really done is delay the debate by a few weeks. Compared to most other Catholic boards, Edmonton’s is actually pretty far along in this process. Eggen can’t look too hasty, as though he’s running roughshod over Catholic religious sensibilities, and firing trustees just for not being LBGQT-positive enough.

Eggen has the power, the right and the responsibility, though, to insist that Catholic boards conform with Alberta law. And he has the power, the right and the responsibility to ensure that Catholic students and parents in Edmonton have a working school board. If trustees can’t get their act together, they may leave him no choice but to wield the hammer.

With files from Mariam Ibrahim

psimons@edmontonjournal.com

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