Alec Salloum
Regina Leader-Post
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is backing his Alberta counterpart’s use of the notwithstanding clause, ordering teachers back to work.
“Unfortunately, I think it’s required in the back-to-work legislation that is there,” Moe said Friday. “I think everybody can agree we need to do what we can to ensure that [students] are in class and, unfortunately, this is the tool that needs to be utilized in this case.”
Moe’s comments come after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith fast-tracked Bill 2 — the Back to School Act — in ordering 51,000 members of the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) back to work Tuesday via the notwithstanding clause.
ATA members had been out of the classroom since Oct. 6.
“I think it’s inexcusable. I think if you want to get a deal with those teachers, get to the table,” said Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck on Friday.
The notwithstanding clause — Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — allows governments to pass legislation that does not observe sections 2 and 7 to 15 of the Charter. Alberta’s Bill 2 utilized the clause specifically for Section 2 regarding a teacher’s right to freedom of association.
In 2023, the Saskatchewan government used the notwithstanding clause to pass the controversial Parents’ Bill of Rights on preferred pronouns in schools.
As for Moe’s comments about Alberta, Beck said there’s “a difference of opinion between myself and the premier on that.”
The move from the Alberta government has prompted walkouts by students this week as unions in the province threaten a general strike in solidarity with the affected teachers and staff.
Smith has stated her government was acting in the interest of students: “We’ve seen how this strike has impacted our students, and we know from the COVID-19 pandemic how quickly and severely learning loss can impact children when they’re not in the classroom.”
Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) president Samantha Becotte, who recently led teachers through a protracted labour dispute, said the move from the Alberta government was an “extraordinary overreach.”
“Utilizing the notwithstanding clause to obstruct teachers’ right to collective bargaining and cut off future legal challenges undermines the principles of democracy that our constitution is meant to protect,” she said in a statement issued Tuesday.
— with files from the Edmonton Journal
