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Duggars dumped

A controversial reality TV couple has been turfed from the Alberta Home Education Association’s convention next year.
WEB-Duggars
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar will no longer be the keynote speakers at the Alberta Home Education Association’s convention next year.

A controversial reality TV couple has been turfed from the Alberta Home Education Association’s convention next year.

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar will no longer be the keynote speakers at the group’s annual meeting.

Paul van den Bosch, association president, said in a news release, “recent feedback from our members points out that their appearance here would not be in the best interests of home educators.”

The group had booked the 19 Kids and Counting couple before allegations emerged that their son had sexually assaulted several young girls including some of his sisters while he was a teenager, about 10 years ago.

The long-running TLC reality show was cancelled shortly after the news.

Van den Bosch said “our members also pointed out that as the Duggars would have been giving only two talks (of the more than 40 available) their presence would have been only a small part of the convention and the Duggar’s philosophy is not representative of the AHEA as a whole.”

The keynote speakers will be Andrew Pudewa (Institute for Excellence in Writing), Linda Lacour Hobar (The Mystery of History) and John Carpay (Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms).

Chris Butler will deliver a session on Protecting the Gift, preventing child abuse.

The 30th annual convention runs on April 8 and April 9 in Red Deer. Visit www.aheaonline.com for more information.