Alberta teachers forced back into classrooms following notwithstanding clause

Mia Smith, Web Editor

Alberta teachers returned to work on Wednesday as the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) strike was forced to end following the passage of Bill 2.

Bill 2, referred to as the Back to School Act, forced striking teachers back to work by imposing a “collective” agreement through fast-tracked legislation. 

However, the agreement seemingly did not reach a consensus, with 89.5 per cent of teachers voting against Bill 2. 

“Our intention is to pass this legislation immediately and end the strike by the Alberta Teachers’ Association,” Premier Danielle Smith said in a press release on Monday. “My expectation is that students and teachers will be back in the classroom on Wednesday (Oct. 29).”

While the act forces teachers back into the classroom, it also prevents them from striking until 2028.  After roughly three weeks of the strike, the ATA was met with no change and teachers were sent back to classrooms with the same conditions as before. 

Naheed Nenshi, leader of the Official Opposition NDP, spoke to the media, following the announcement of Bill 2, about his own personal opposition to the bill, calling it “unconstitutional.”

Nenshi and other oppositional opinions are publicly warning the UCP government about the potentially harsh backlash they are about to receive from the province. 

“She’s woken up everybody who wants a better Alberta, and she is going to rue the day that she did this,” said Nenshi. 

For all students, parents and faculty, this experience has been hard to navigate and, as of earlier this week, downright devastating. 

For first-year teachers who are expected to be well-prepared and ready to teach, the news of Bill 2 has them returning to schools with large classroom sizes and limited resources.

First-year grade one teacher Olivia Blackman expressed that although the teaching community expected the events of the strike, that did not make the duration of the strike any easier. 

“It feels like we have no voice and we are unable to get anywhere,” said Blackman. 

She explained that the morale among students returning to school on Wednesday was extremely low, although putting on a happy face for them came easily. Blackman added that missing the students was difficult, but feeling unsupported by your own government is the bigger issue. 

“I just hope people in Alberta are paying attention to what is happening,” she said. “If nothing changes, it will all feel like it was for nothing.” 

Starting a teaching career is often exciting, but for today’s first-year teachers in Alberta, Blackman explains, the reality feels far more daunting.

First-year kindergarten teacher Emma Bradshaw explains that the negativity on social media is making the weight of it all that much heavier. 

“It’s more disappointing and discouraging to see what people are saying about teachers rather than acknowledging why we are striking in the first place,” Bradshaw said. “People think we are just being greedy.”

Bradshaw explained that many people are overlooking the central ideas of why the ATA struck in the first place. 

“Everyone has turned this into such a political debate. It should just be fighting for the education of kids,” Bradshaw said. 

Even though teachers have now been silenced between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., others are not shying away from the fight. Students have stepped up to the plate to fight for the rights of their educators, with groups in the thousands planning walkout protests across the province last Thursday. More protests are expected to come throughout the school year.