Alberta Government invokes Notwithstanding Clause to impose a collective contract and shield it from court challenges for the duration of the four-year term

The Alberta government has overridden the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and is forcing Alberta teachers back to work on Wednesday (October 29).

The move comes after months of stalemated contract negotiations between teachers and the government. 

Three weeks after teachers walked off the job to protest stagnant wages, increased classroom complexities and the government’s lack of willingness to address class sizes, Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party has taken the extreme measure of invoking the Canadian Charter’s Notwithstanding Clause, ordering educators back to work and imposing on them the contract that Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) members rejected by a magnitude of 90 percent a month ago.

“We believe this is a necessary measure…and we will not apologize for putting children first,” Alberta Minister of Justice Mickey Amery said.

Human rights watchers called the new legislation an egregious attack on workers’ rights.

“The decision… marks a deeply troubling moment for our democracy,” said Howard Sapers, Executive Director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. “If Alberta can use the notwithstanding clause now without consequence, it will not hesitate to do so again.”

In a press conference yesterday (Monday, October 27), Premier Danielle Smith defended her government’s new legislation, dubbed the Back to School Act (Bill 2), and suggested the teachers’ strike has caused irreparable harm to students.

“We’ve seen how this strike has impacted our students. We know … how quickly and severely learning loss can impact children when they’re not in school,” Smith said.

Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner said invoking the Notwithstanding Clause to usher the legislation through came only after the government had made “every effort to reach a fair and responsible settlement.”

“The ATA’s latest offer went too far,” Horner said. “It imposed rigid classroom sizes and …doubled the total cost [of the contract].”

The ATA was asking for classroom caps to improve student outcomes and to increase per-student funding which would bring Alberta in line with the Canadian average.

The government’s offer, which is now being imposed, gives three per cent wage increases to teachers in each of four years; adds 1,000 net new teaching positions across the province in each of the next three school years; adds 1,500 new educational assistant positions by August 2028; and moves most teachers to salary grids which could give some teachers up to a five per cent wage increase. The forced contract also gives teachers free COVID-19 vaccines.

Alberta teachers have said not addressing classroom sizes shows a lack of respect. They’ve also said there aren’t enough educators to make the UCP’s promise of more teachers stick.

“Where are you going to attract them from if the salaries aren’t competitive?” Grande Prairie Peter MacKay told The Jasper Local on October 9.

Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said imposing a contract is a direct assault on teachers’ Charter-protected right to freedom of association.

“When governments use the notwithstanding clause to dodge accountability and silence opposition, they don’t just target workers—they threaten the rights of everyone in Canada,” she said.

Local teachers have been expressing their dismay with the government’s bill. Jasper kindergarten teacher Cristin Murphy called yesterday the darkest day in the history of Alberta education.

“Shame on this government for the gaslighting and lying and bargaining in bad faith,” she said.

ATA President Jason Schilling said at a media briefing on Tuesday that teachers will comply with the law and return to Alberta classrooms, but that “compliance is not consent.”

“The association will fight this abuse of power with every tool the law provides and every ounce of conviction we possess,” Schilling said. “We will challenge this legislation in the courts, in our communities and in the very conscience of Albertans.”

Schilling said that despite teachers going back to work with the same crowded schools and the same lack of support, the last 22 days of teacher advocacy has sparked a province-wide movement. He said the protests have at the very least forced the government to resume collecting data on classrooms, something they stopped doing in 2019.

“They’ve been compelled to acknowledge at last that class sizes and complexity matter,” he said. 

In her press conference, Premier Smith announced the creation of a task force on class size and complexity, and in a letter to parents, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said he will be personally heading up the creation of a Teacher Advisory Council to ensure the government will hear directly from teachers.

“This is a fresh start and a chance to move forward together,” Nicolaides said.

In his message to Albertans, Schilling said parents need to start holding their MLAs to account. He said the teacher action has helped open Albertans’ eyes to the challenging conditions in public schools.

“Parents need to start going to school bard meetings. They need to get involved in their school council meetings,” he said.

Schilling said in February, Alberta will pass a new provincial budget and Albertans need to be asking their elected representatives if Alberta will once again be the least funded school jurisdiction in all of Canada.

“Or did government actually hear what people were saying these last three weeks and make a change?”

Political watchers will look to other unions to see if broader strike action could take place across the province. The Alberta Federation of Labour is hosting a press conference tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct 29) to respond to Bill 2.

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com