ALBERTA GOVT  BACK TO WORK LEGISLATION ENDS TEACHERS STRIKE 

A Dark Day for Democracy Dear friends,   I write to you this morning tired and with a heavy heart.    I was in the legislature until the early hours of this morning as the UCP rammed through Bill 2, the Back to School Act.    Bill 2 forces teachers back into underfunded and overcrowded classrooms and violates their right to collective bargaining. Bill 2 also includes, for the first time in Alberta’s history, preemptive use of the notwithstanding clause to bypass charter-protected rights of Albertans.    Not only did the UCP invoke the notwithstanding clause, they repeatedly used closure motions to end debate on the legislation, to ensure it passed in one evening. The use of these undemocratic legislative tools marks an absolutely shameful first for our province.      And so, we woke up today to a new reality in Alberta. We are living under a government that has openly defied charter rights and abused their legislative power. We are living under a government that has overtly valued power over human rights, prioritized control over dialogue, and has demonstrated once again, that they just don’t care about public education.

Speaking up against Bill 2, the Back to School Act, in the chamber late last night. You can watch some of my remarks by clicking here.

And while the legislation was shocking and unprecedented, I am so sad to think about the students and teachers who are returning to classes on Wednesday to the same broken system. Very little has changed. Alberta is still the lowest funded education system in the country. There are no class size caps and not enough space. There is virtually no support for students with special needs, and teachers continue to shoulder the burden of this chronically underfunded system. None of this is ok.     And so yes, I’m tired today. Teachers, students, and parents are tired. Albertans are tired.    But do not mistake our collective fatigue for weakness. We may be tired, but we’re not dejected. We’re angry, but not ambivalent. We are outraged, but not unresolved.    I feel unequivocally committed to this fight, and I know you are too. Throughout the teachers’ strike, I have seen Albertans rising up like never before. Students are organizing, Albertans are attending enormous rallies at the legislature, my inbox is flooded with hundreds of emails everyday advocating for education, and so many Albertans who’ve never been involved in politics before are reaching out for the first time.    And so my friends, while yesterday was a dark day; we persist. And we resist. Now is the time to get involved and get loud. Write to the Premier and Education Minister, talk to your friends and family, donate, find a way to volunteer.    Because kids deserve better, our teachers deserve better, Albertans deserve better. And better is possible.   As always, my door (and inbox) are always open.   Take care of yourselves and each other,   Janis