Eugenics and Sterilization in Alberta: 35 Years Later
University of Alberta
April 27-28, 2007
This was the first public event organized by the What Sorts Network to examine and reflect on eugenics and sterilization in Alberta. It looks back on the historical period in the middle half of the 20th-century, as well as at the 35-year period since the repeal of the Sexual Sterilization Act in Alberta. The conference was held over two days at the University of Alberta in April 2007. Here we combined a small workshop of about 25 people, including What Sorts Network members, students at the University of Alberta, and members of the community, with a public conference that attracted about 100 people from the local community.
The Honorable David King, MLA and Cabinet Minister in the Province of Alberta from 1971 – 1986, who was instrumental in the repeal of the Sexual Sterilization Act, and Geoffrey Reaume, co-founder of the Psychiatric Survivor Archives in Toronto and a professor at York University, were keynote speakers. Other speakers included What Sorts Network members Dick Sobsey, Claudia Malacrida, Harvey Krahn, Jana Grekul, Douglas Wahlsten, Leilani Muir, Judy Lytton, Sandra Anderson, and Nicola Fairbrother.
This was an audio-recorded event and with the exception of the talk by Krahn and Grekul, all of the talks are available here. We apologize to those who would benefit from transcripts, but this was our first foray into recording an event and no transcripts were produced. Talks at this conference and presentations at the invited workshop will form the core of an edited volume on the topic, details still being negotiated.
Listen to conference proceedings: