Alberta’s teachers are expected to deliver an update Thursday on possible legal action after their provincewide strike was shut down by Premier Danielle Smith’s UCP government.
Jason Schilling, the head of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, has said the province had other options to resolve bargaining issues with teachers instead of passing back-to-work legislation last week.
The assocation will hold a news conference Thursday afternoon to share its plan.
It’s not clear what legal options the teachers have, given the back-to-work bill invoked the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to override teachers’ rights and shield it from constitutional challenge.
The notwithstanding clause — or Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — gives provincial legislatures or Parliament the ability, through the passage of a law, to override certain portions of the Charter for up to five years.
Schilling says using the notwithstanding clause is, in his words, a “stain” on the government’s record and has called for the bill to be repealed.
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Others have also expressed concern with the clause being used.
Canada’s premiers are too quick to use the notwithstanding clause for “marginal reasons” and have lost sight of its original purpose, former prime minister Jean Chrétien said Wednesday evening.
Chrétien, who as justice minister negotiated the clause’s inclusion in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1981, said provinces are using it “for anything” 40 years later.
“It was not designed for that. It was designed (for) when there was a court going too far, politicians can intervene,” he said of the provision, which gives legislatures the ability to override certain portions of the Charter for up to five years.
“That worries me very, very much.”
The Anglican Diocese of Edmonton said denying one group’s fundamental rights has deeper implications that could interfere with people’s freedom of conscience and religion.
On Tuesday, four major criminal defence organizations in Alberta said they were worried, noting residents should also be a alarmed by the use of the clause.
“It is deeply concerning that this may be just the beginning, with the government confirming it is prepared to use the notwithstanding clause in other areas,” said a joint statement by the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association in Calgary, the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association in Edmonton, the Red Deer Criminal Defence Lawyers Association and the Southern Alberta Defence Lawyers Association.
“This reflects a flagrant disregard for fundamental rights and freedoms, and a cavalier attitude which is shocking to Albertans and to Canadians.”
The ATA represents 51,000 teachers across Alberta.
— More to come…
— With files from Cassidy McMackon, The Canadian Press
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