Jason Stephan was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Red Deer-South on April 16, 2019 and re-elected on May 29, 2023.My duty is to seek freedom and prosperity for Alberta families and individuals. That means speaking the truth as I best understand it, even if some do not like it.I have been asked about the teacher strike. This will be Part 1 of 2. Part 2 will be titled “Alberta Needs a Better Education System.” In each part, the statements and opinions are my own, and if there are errors, they are mine alone.On Tuesday morning at about 2 a.m., the Alberta government passed Bill 2, Back to School Act (“Act”)..OLDCORN: Supreme Court’s softening on child porn sentences is a national disgrace.The Act ended the Alberta Teachers Association (“Union”) strike and resumed school classes on Wednesday.Ending the strike was good for Alberta. Most Albertans wanted the strike to end and school to resume, including grade 12 students who did not want to see graduation plans undermined or delayed.Many teachers also wanted to go back to work. During the strike, they were not paid by the Union. The Union did not maintain a strike fund for Union members, spending millions of Union dues on the Union’s political activities..And what were those activities? Unfortunately, this Union chose not to be nonpartisan; it was, and is, a very partisan political entity, overtly and continuously hostile to the elected conservative Alberta government from the outset, years before their strike, often acting like a branch office of the NDP.What did the strike accomplish?The strike resulted in about 740,000 Alberta children not attending school for 3 weeks. It also resulted in cost and inconvenience for many Alberta families. The Union could have started their strike during the summer but chose not to. The strike was started at a time calculated by the Union to produce hardship on Alberta families to maximize pressure on the Alberta government to capitulate to Union demands..PINDER: United Nations deception – Inside the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s ‘Science’ factory.And Alberta’s government wanted to reach a negotiated settlement with the Union, and did so, twice prior to the strike, but each time the settlement was rejected by teachers.Alberta’s government also offered to engage in enhanced mediation to seek agreement and end the strike, but this offer was rejected by the Union.After three weeks, it was time for the Union strike to end, and the Alberta government did so, introducing the Act on Monday and passing it on Tuesday..Charter right to strike?Some are upset because the Act invokes the notwithstanding clause, making the Act ending the strike protected from potential judicial interference under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter”).The words of the Charter, enacted in 1982, enumerates no Charter right to strike.In 1987, the Supreme Court of Canada (“Court”) held that the right to strike was not a “fundamental freedom” and not a Charter right..HANNAFORD: Time for the right to work in Alberta?.In 2015, a 5-2 activist majority of the Court reversed itself and decided to “read in” the freedom of association to include a public Union strike as a Charter right and fundamental freedom.A Charter right to strike as a fundamental freedom is not without dissent and has been criticized as, among other things, running contrary to parliamentary supremacy because democratically elected legislatures have the responsibility to balance interests between employer, employees, and the public — whereas a public sector Union, often a monopoly or near monopoly, has no such responsibility to the public..What about the right for a child to receive an education?Any right of a Union to strike is not absolute and is subject to reasonable limits within the Charter itself.This balancing must include a consideration of the right of about 740,000 Alberta children to get an education. What about this right? While the Union does not have this responsibility to balance the right to strike, with the right for children to get an education, elected legislatures do..OLDCORN: Lukaszuk’s petition doesn’t slam the door on an independence vote.And in these circumstances, the Union’s strike was interfering with children’s right to get an education, and after 3 weeks, their strike was causing harm to children and families, and it was time to end.Use of the notwithstanding clauseWould a court have ended the Union strike in view of the harm to children and families? Unfortunately, considering some judicial decisions, it depends on the judge. Judges are not elected or unaccountable, and it is possible, despite harm to children and families, an activist judge may not reasonably limit a Charter right to strike which other activist judges invented..But what about binding arbitration? After reaching two settlements with the Union, and having each rejected, moving a multi-billion-dollar taxpayer-funded contract into the hands of an unelected and unaccountable arbitrator was not acceptable as it could, among other things, impose billions in new costs on Alberta taxpayers and undermine negotiated settlements already reached with other public sector Unions.Section 33 of the Charter gives Alberta’s government the right to end the strike and is protected from judicial interference. The use of the notwithstanding clause in these circumstances provided certainty and a restoration of stability for 740,000 children and their families in the public education system..STEINKE: The disappearing voice of rural Alberta.When Peter Lougheed insisted on having a notwithstanding clause included in the Charter in 1982, one of the reasons for his insistence was a concern of activist judges reading into the Charter a right to strike! Forty-three years later, his concern has materialized, and Alberta’s government has applied the notwithstanding clause as he had contemplated it.Ending the strike and resuming school is good for Alberta.Jason Stephan was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Red Deer-South on April 16, 2019 and re-elected on May 29, 2023.
