October 28, 2025
RED FM News Desk
The union representing Alberta’s teachers is condemning the provincial government’s move to use the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to end their strike, calling it a “gross abuse of power.”
In a statement released early Tuesday, the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) said it will comply with the law but plans to challenge what it calls “Bill 2’s egregious assault on the collective bargaining rights of teachers and, by extension, all workers.”
“The ATA will pursue all legal alternatives,” the statement read. “In this effort, we anticipate that we will be supported by organized labour, civil society, and ordinary citizens. This fight has just begun.”
The statement came shortly before Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party government used its majority to pass the controversial legislation. The government imposed time limits on debate, pushing the bill through all stages in just six and a half hours.
Bill 2 passed its third and final reading around 2 a.m. Tuesday amid shouts of “Shame!” from opposition members.
The new law orders teachers back to work and imposes steep penalties for defiance—up to $500 per day for individual teachers and $500,000 per day for the union.
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides defended the move during debate, saying the government had an “undeniable moral imperative” to end a three-week strike that he said was harming students’ learning and social development.
“This strike has moved beyond the state of inconvenience,” Nicolaides told the legislature. “We must act in the best interests of Alberta’s students.”
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