US EditionAlberta government orders teachers back to work using notwithstanding clause
The legislation ends a three-week strike affecting over 740,000 students and imposes a previously rejected collective bargaining agreement on 51,000 teachers.
- The Alberta government used the notwithstanding clause to order 51,000 striking teachers back to work, ending the largest walkout in Alberta history, Premier Danielle Smith said.
- The walkout began Oct. 6 when teachers from public, separate and francophone schools walked off after talks failed mainly over class sizes and classroom complexity, leaving more than 740,000 students out of school.
- Using procedural rules, the legislature imposed one-hour limits on discussion and fast-tracked the bill through three debate stages in six and a half hours, finishing at 2 a.m.
- Under the legislation, individual teachers face fines up to $500 per day and the union up to $500,000 per day, while the imposed collective bargaining agreement was rejected by rank-and-file teachers.
- The government said the clause that overrides Charter rights for up to five years shields the bill from court challenges, but critics warn it undermines constitutional protections and overrides the Alberta Bill of Rights and Alberta Human Rights Act, citing Ontario 2022 precedent.
63 Articles
63 Articles
Alberta government runs roughshod over democratic rights to illegalize strike by 50,000 teachers
The far-right UCP government’s back-to-work law invokes Canada’s anti-democratic “notwithstanding clause,” enabling it to legally trample on rights supposedly guaranteed under the constitution’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Alberta teachers say fight just begun but will follow the law in back-to-work bill (Alberta)
The union for Alberta's teachers says the province using the Charter's notwithstanding clause to end their strike is a gross abuse of power -- but says it will follow the law. The Alberta Teachers' Association, in a statement issued early Tuesday morning, said it 'has taken the position that it will...
Danielle Smith put an end to the strike of 51,000 teachers using the gag and derogation provision.
Alberta government passes bill to use notwithstanding clause to put end to teacher strike
Premier Danielle Smith’s caucus worked into the wee hours of Tuesday morning to curtail debate and speedily pass a bill using the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to order 51,000 striking teachers back to work.
Premier Smith sending teachers back to school and setting up classroom complexity task force
Taking action on classroom complexity As schools reopen, Alberta’s government is taking action by appointing a class size and complexity task force to meet the challenge of increasingly complex classrooms. Across Alberta, teachers are seeing more students with diverse learning needs and behavioural challenges, while incidents of classroom aggression are rising. To address these challenges head on, and in response to concerns raised by teachers, …
Prince George Citizen
Alberta uses Charter's notwithstanding clause to order striking teachers back to work
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