How many school days must be lost before a government fulfills its fundamental duty to protect students' interests? After more than three weeks of shuttered classrooms and disrupted education, Alberta’s government is finally taking necessary action with its Back to School Act.The legislation, known formally as Bill 2, represents a reasonable response to an untenable situation. .SLOBODIAN: When ostriches and whales die, so does Canada.Since October 6, approximately 51,000 teachers have been on strike, keeping roughly 750,000 students out of their classrooms. Premier Danielle Smith correctly identified this prolonged disruption as causing "irreparable harm" to an entire generation of students. While teachers certainly deserve fair compensation and adequate working conditions, the education of children must remain the paramount concern..The government has demonstrated considerable patience and made meaningful offers throughout negotiations. Its latest proposal included a significant 12% wage increase over four years alongside a commitment to hire 3,000 additional teachers. This substantial investment in education resources represents a good faith effort to address concerns, yet it was rejected by about 90% of teachers. .OLDCORN: Saskatchewan should follow Alberta’s lead on drug courts and learn from Portugal.At some point, negotiations must either conclude or be concluded when they cease to serve the public interest.The Back to School Act provides a reasonable path forward. Tabled on Monday, the legislation could see teachers returning to classrooms as early as this week..If passed, the legislation would declare the strike illegal and likely send unresolved issues to binding arbitration. This approach provides a fair mechanism for settlement while ending the damaging classroom closures.Critics have raised concerns about the potential use of the notwithstanding clause (Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms) to protect the legislation from legal challenges. .WHISSELL: Pierre Poilievre Derangement Syndrome.While this option remains available, the government has not confirmed it will invoke this measure. What remains undeniable is that the government possesses both the right and responsibility to ensure essential services continue operating. The education of 750,000 children undoubtedly qualifies as an essential service..Some union leaders threaten legal battles, echoing a 2002 challenge when the Ralph Klein government passed similar back-to-work legislation for 16,000 striking teachers. That historical precedent demonstrates that such measures are neither novel nor extreme. They represent a government exercising its legitimate authority to resolve protracted labour disputes that harm the public..WENZEL: Ward 11’s reality check: The office belongs to us.The Alberta Teachers' Association argues that legislating teachers back to work without genuine negotiation "feels disrespectful.” This perspective overlooks a crucial fact that teachers are public servants working within an education system that exists primarily to serve students, not system employees. When labour actions extend for weeks with no resolution in sight, governments have both the authority and obligation to intervene..Classroom complexity and size remain legitimate concerns, but these challenges cannot be solved through endless strikes. The government has wisely proposed hiring thousands of additional teachers and education assistants to address these issues. Furthermore, as several incoming school trustees have noted, school boards can creatively utilize non-traditional spaces to accommodate students while the government follows through on its promise to build 100 new and updated schools over the next seven years..MORGAN: Will Calgarians get the change they voted for?.Alberta's per-student funding may rank among the lowest in Canada, as the Alberta Teachers' Association and Fraser Institute note, but this government has committed to substantial investments in education while respecting taxpayer resources. The proposed 12% wage increase exceeds recent inflation rates and demonstrates the government's commitment to valuing the teaching profession.The Back to School Act represents a balanced approach. .It respects teachers by providing a fair wage increase and additional resources while respecting students and parents by ending an increasingly harmful disruption to education. The legislation appropriately prioritizes the educational needs of children over the bargaining positions of unions.Albertans should support this reasonable effort to return our classrooms to their proper purpose, which is educating the next generation of citizens, innovators, and leaders. .MacLEOD: The cumulative chill: Canada’s legislative overreach on free expression.The government has shown restraint in allowing negotiations to proceed, but has rightly determined that three weeks of lost learning represents the outer limit of acceptable disruption. It is time to reopen our schools and resume the vital work of educating Alberta's future.
