Is Danielle Smith a Neo-Calvinist?

In the search to find out where funding for private and charter schools started in Alberta, we were left to ask the question…

Is Alberta Premier Danielle Smith a Neo-Calvinist?

Read this as a precursor to our next Bloody Business article exploring the playbook to defund public education and phase out public schools.

What is Neo-Calvinism and why is this a "thing" to discuss?

Neo-Calvinists are followers of a Dutch Reformed tradition that says common grace (good gifts show up beyond the church) and sphere sovereignty (family, school, business, government each have their own God-given responsibilities). In education: Neo-Calvinists back a pluriform public order - multiple school types (public, separate, independent) that can receive public support if they meet common standards.

It is important to know who the Neo-Calvinists are / were because they are the reason there is funding for non-public schools in Alberta.

Spoiler, Danielle Smith is likely not a Neo-Calvinist. It’s likely a simple fact she is a capitalist, with a capitalism agenda overtop a course syllabus. Let’s explore this through conversation as the history and contrast to what was intended by the Neo-Calvinists in Alberta versus where Alberta is going now are very different.

Alberta’s Premier is running a choice-first, state-steered school buildout: more charters, ongoing grants to accredited private schools, and (new) pilot capital help for non-profit privates, while keeping a firm managerial hand on the wheel.

Let’s answer this question first. How and when did Alberta start funding non-public schools?

Who pushed it (1958–67)? Neo-Calvinist Dutch immigrants argued for a “pluriform public order”, funding all bona fide schools (public, separate, independent) under a limited-state model, challenging Alberta’s liberal “one best system.” Social Theology

That’s “liberal”, not “Liberal” and during this time in Alberta, it was the Social Credit party that was the ruling party until Progressive Conservatives under Peter Lougheed took hold of the province in 1971.

A quick breakout of what “pluralism” in the education context is / was?

Pluralism is the idea that many different groups, beliefs, and ways of life can share the same public space under one fair set of rules. No single group gets to run the table; the government’s job is to protect equal freedoms and set common standards, not impose one worldview.

Educational pluralism means multiple school types (public, Catholic (separate), charter, independent) can receive public support if they meet the same baseline standards for curriculum, safety, and accountability. A “Build what you want; meet the same requirements.” approach.

The strategy was to build independent Christian schools and lobby hard (i.e. Christian Action Foundation). Private schools had been in legal limbo with no public funding for most of the century. Social Theology+1

The turning point was Mar 29,1966, where and when the Alberta Legislature passed Donald S. Flemming’s motion (34–16) to extend support to private schools. Social Theology

The first public money cheques were issue in 1967 as the Alberta Cabinet implemented public funding for non-public schools at a rate of $100 per-pupil grants, making Alberta the first Canadian province to publicly fund independent schools. Social Theology

The bottom line is that it was a partial win for the private school advocates but below parity and with stronger government conditions than the original pluralism ideal.

Alberta’s school pluralism began with Dutch theology and ended with a $100 line item.” It’s evolved significantly since then! Clearly.

In a 2006 academic paper (Hiemstra/Brink) argued that Dutch-influenced Neo-Calvinists pushed Alberta toward a “pluriform public order” where multiple kinds of publicly supported schools (public, separate, independent), under limited government intervention that sets basic standards and then gets out of the way.

The approach; prioritizing civil society's role in social and political change; government as referee, not coach.

You can read the full paper here: Calvinist Pluriformity Challenges Liberal Assimilation:A Novel Case for Publicly Funding Alberta’s Private Schools, 1953-1967: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/50/article/200613

Premier Smith’s program rhymes with the policy shape (more than one schooling stream gets public money) but hums a different melody (government orchestration, capacity management, and parental choice framing rather than theology of spheres).

The quick decoder ring on Neo-Calvinism in Alberta. Neo-Calvinists were able to start public-funds flowing to non-public schools but the overall approach with plurality at its core is not in Premier Smith’s vocabulary today.

Smith’s public playbook (translated from podium to plain English):

Build more seats yesterday.

Charters get a dedicated accelerator; public boards, Catholic boards, and non-profit private schools are invited to the capital conversation.

The message: If you can open classrooms, line up - permits, shovels, go!

Keep the money pipes diversified.

Accredited private “independent” schools continue to receive a significant slice of the per-student operating grant (historically up to ~70% of base operations), and now there’s a pilot for capital support in the non-profit private lane. Charters remain publicly funded at public-school rates.

Managerial steering, not minimalist government.

The government coordinates sites, approvals, policy conditions, and the rules of engagement. It’s choice inside a system that the province defines and directs.

Labour relations: a firm grip.

On teacher job action, the stance is classic Alberta hardball: readiness to legislate kids back into classrooms if needed. That’s managerial governance, not the “limited government” ideal Neo-Calvinists imagined.

It looks like the school pluralism Neo-Calvinists somewhat wanted, but it’s run like a provincial infrastructure file, not a theological experiment in limited government.

Neo-Calvinism in the "old world" was about Christ’s authority over culture. Premier Smith’s line is basic capacity planning: build seats, reduce waitlists, give parents options. Similar nouns, different planets.

“Choice” can sound religious but isn’t necessarily.

In Alberta, “choice” is just as likely to mean market-liberal policy as it is to mean religious-pluralist theory. The current program looks and feels “market liberal”, meaning a tendacy to favor school choice (charters, vouchers), funding following students, and competition between providers, while keeping standards and transparency via the government.

What this means for parents, teachers, and boards?

Parents: More doors to knock on. Charters and some privates will open faster. Don’t expect tuition-free private schooling; do expect more seats in non-board models sooner and finding following those students.

Teachers: Expect pressure for mobility and fit. Hiring may chase whichever sector can build classrooms fastest. Labour leverage will keep meeting a firm government hand.

Public Boards: You’ll get projects for now, but you’re no longer the only capacity game in town. The political oxygen tilts to “who can open seats fastest at the right cost.”

What does it all mean?

If Neo-Calvinism is jazz - lots of players, light touch from the conductor – (Government - Premier).

Smithism is more marching band: diverse instruments, one drumline, and a very clear tempo set by the government. It’s pragmatic pluralism in service of capacity and parental choice, not a theological reset of the government - society relationship.

Under Smith, Alberta isn’t going Neo-Calvinist; it is going free-market, measured in seats, starts, and spend.

The Bloody Business view is simple. Free market logic doesn’t fit public schools because kids aren’t stock. Children are learners, not inventory. Schools aren’t warehouses, and efficiency isn’t education.

What we are seeing in Alberta is a free-market economics approach being applied to the education system and you can call it a full-scale long-term strategy for PRIVATIZATION and defunding public education.

The 2014 paper Privatization of Schools Selling out the right to quality public education for all by Carol Anne Spreen and Salim Vally summarizes this approach well.

“It is argued that privatization provides choices to parents, makes schools more responsive, produces greater cost efficiencies and even better quality education… however such “quality” is defined. This approach is derived from the idea that the state (government) should have as little as possible to do with the delivery of education and other services which are best left to market mechanisms for their resolution. (They) argue that the proposed “market solution” to our education crisis, even with state (government) regulation, is less a case of a pragmatic attempt at resolving the problem than a case of ideological wishful thinking.”

You should read the paper here Privatization of Schools Selling out the right to quality public education for all

Next up is a glimpse inside the playbook for how a government can achieve defunding public education and phasing out public schools in:

Bloody Business: Government \\ A Playbook to Defund Public Education in Alberta.

Glossary for the rest of us:

• Charter school (Alberta): Publicly funded, tuition-free, non-board schools with a specific educational approach; approved and overseen by the province.
• Accredited private (“independent”) school: Non-public school meeting provincial standards; receives a portion of public operating grants (tuition still charged).
• Sphere sovereignty: Neo-Calvinist idea that institutions (family, school, church, state, business) have distinct God-given responsibilities; the state is a referee, not a player-coach.

Where Bloody Business stands (and why we wrote this):

This piece is for Albertans, to boost government-literacy so you can spot the moving parts and ask better questions. Bloody Business is not pro-government or anti-government; we’re pro-clarity and asking questions only independent Journals can. No pom-poms, no pitchforks - just clean definitions, receipts, and a wink when the jargon gets silly. Okay, sometimes we participate in protests and sometimes we take a stand, specific to an issue because we have those darn feelings. Feelings as in – where do we want to be standing in history.

Sources:

1. Hiemstra & Brink (2006), “The Advent of a Public Pluriformity Model: Faith-Based School Choice in Alberta.” Key thesis: Alberta’s pragmatic pluriform public model; limited-state framing (sphere sovereignty). ERIC
2. Premier’s Address to the Province (Sept 17, 2024) — outlines the accelerated build, framing and “choice” language. Alberta.ca
3. School Construction Accelerator Program (Alberta.ca) — $8.6B, 200,000 spaces over seven years; includes expanding public charter school builds. Alberta.ca
4. Charter School Accelerator target — 12,500 charter seats referenced in official/government comms and coverage tied to the program launch. Facebook+2LiveWire Calgary+2
5. Education Amendment Act, 2024 (Bill 27) — parent guide/overview of the province’s new rules. Alberta.ca+1
6. Accredited private school funding (historical baseline) — Alberta manuals/booklets confirming the 60/70% operating-grant structure for Level 1/Level 2 accredited funded private schools. Open Alberta+1