Teachers and supporters gather in Alberta education minister's riding as back-to-work legislation looms
CBC
Protesters from across Alberta gathered Saturday in the southwest Calgary community of West Springs, located in the provincial electoral district of Calgary-Bow — a seat that's been held by Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides since 2019.
The gathering, organized by Public Interest Alberta, saw Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) members and supporters door-knock and drop off yellow signs throughout the riding in support of strengthening public education.
About 51,000 public, separate and francophone school teachers across Alberta have been on strike since Oct. 6, leaving around 750,000 K-12 students out of school for more than three weeks.
Bradley Lafortune, executive director of Public Interest Alberta, said the gathering was an effort to "correct the course" of the province's public education, comparing it to a ship "that's at risk of sinking."
"This is [Alberta Premier] Danielle Smith's strike, and this is Minister Nicolaides' strike," Lafortune said.
"They had the power to end it before it started. But instead, we have been on strike for the past three weeks talking about complex classrooms, overcrowded classrooms, fair funding, and sustainable and equitable funding for public education."
"This Monday, going back to the legislature, they're poised to make a bad situation even worse, by introducing back-to-work legislation that will effectively take the right to strike away from teachers and force them back to work," he said.
He's referring to Bill 2, or the Back to School Act, which the province intends to table Monday.
"So why are we here? We're here to hold them accountable," Lafortune said. "We are here to call on the public to tell this minister and this premier to do the right thing instead of the wrong thing once again."
LaFortune said "the right thing" constitutes negotiating a deal without legislating teachers back to work, and making a firm commitment to increase the funding allotted to public education in Alberta.
"This government is refusing to listen to teachers and families and students, and we're here today to ask that the minister and the premier hear the public," Lafortune said.
A petition to recall Nicolaides as Calgary-Bow MLA is currently underway. Petition organizers, who were on-site gathering signatures, told CBC News the protest was not affiliated with their recall efforts.
That petition was officially issued Oct. 23, after receiving approval the week prior, making it the first recall petition application approved by Alberta’s chief electoral officer under the recently-amended Recall Act.
Petition organizers have until Jan. 21, 2026 — a 90-day period — to collect 16,006 signatures, which translates to 60 per cent of voters who cast a ballot in the riding in the last provincial election. If successful, that would trigger a referendum within the riding to determine whether to recall the MLA and hold a byelection.
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