Alberta Teachers’ Association might take the government to court. Here’s what we know
CBC
The Alberta Teachers’ Association is weighing its legal options to challenge back-to-work legislation imposed by the provincial government.
“The association will fight this abuse of power with every tool the law provides, and every ounce of conviction we possess,” ATA president Jason Schilling told reporters on Tuesday.
The Back to School Act pre-emptively invokes the notwithstanding clause to stop teachers from striking and prevent courts from overturning the law.
The government has said the use of the clause was justified to prevent localized strikes and ensure school is not interrupted again.
The ATA has been mum on what it plans to do. But CBC spoke to lawyers and civil liberty associations to get a sense of whether the back-to-work order could be challenged in court.
The notwithstanding clause, or Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, allows governments to pass legislation that violates certain portions of the Charter for up to five years.
Using the clause means the legislation can not be overturned, but Marion Sandilands, a partner at Conway Litigation said how a court can rule alongside the notwithstanding clause remains an open question.
“Even if it can't strike it down because of the notwithstanding clause, the court can declare whether or not it violates Charter rights,” she said.
“So in this case, the court might be asking itself, does this violate the right to collective bargaining, for example?”
There are two high-profile recent cases where the notwithstanding clause has been invoked and challenged in court: In Saskatchewan and Quebec.
In 2023, Premier Scott Moe's Saskatchewan Party government brought in a law preventing children under 16 from changing their names or pronouns at school without parental consent.
And in 2019, the Quebec government used the notwithstanding clause to pass its secularism law.
Both cases saw legal challenges and were appealed by the provincial governments with contrasting results.
In Saskatchewan, the court of appeal said courts can make declarations about constitutionality, even if a law can’t be struck down, but that wasn’t the case in the Court of Appeal of Quebec.
Montreal officials will hold a ceremony to mark the 36th anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre today.
The City of Regina's proposal to build a roadway through the McKell Wascana Conservation Park should be discarded, local conservationists say.
A holiday event that began in 2020 during the pandemic with three floats on pickup trucks has now become one of Kelowna’s big winter events, drawing thousands to the city’s downtown core.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.
It’s been hard to keep track of how many legal challenges and active court proceedings the United Conservative government has tried to quash or pre-emptively block in the last six weeks, but let’s try to tally:
Margaret Walker, the emcee of a Waterloo vigil commemorating the victims of the Montreal massacre, doesn't feel enough is being done to reflect on the killings and address gender-based violence.
The P.E.I. Humane Society says it is doing far more fundraising than it used to, and rising expenses — including the cost of animal medications — are a big reason why.
Ottawa is staring down a court-ordered deadline to submit a new plan to reform the on-reserve child welfare system, as a group of First Nations leaders and children’s advocates prepare a competing proposal.
An underpass revitalization project that was meant to pay tribute to the people of Parkdale has instead deteriorated into “a garbage dump,” according to nearby residents.
A young man has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm after a fire at a frat party near Western University that injured five sorority sisters, including two seriously, late Tuesday night.
The massive deal to combine one of Hollywood's oldest studios with a streaming giant hasn't even been approved yet, but it's already riling multiple related industries and politicians concerned about monopolies and media concentration.
Mi'kmaq chiefs and a former Nova Scotia justice minister are criticizing the provincial government for directing police to crack down on illegal cannabis, saying the order undermines relations with Indigenous Peoples.
For years, there has been “glaring inequity” in the way the province has allocated the millions of dollars in its county roads budget, according to Department of Transportation Minister Chuck Chiasson.