EDMONTON — The head of Alberta’s teachers union says they will abide by a back-to-work order and will not engage in illegal actions such as work-to-rule.
Jason Schilling says work-to-rule would lead to punishing fines, but he is urging his colleagues to rethink going the extra mile when it comes to their own time at school.
“They need to evaluate, and re-evaluate, how they’re spending their voluntary time at school,” Schilling told a news conference Tuesday. “For instance, I used to coach cross-country (running) and direct the drama play. Maybe I’m not going to direct the drama play next year.
“You take my rights away? Then I’m going to re-evaluate the voluntary nature of my job.”
His comments came after Premier Danielle Smith’s government introduced and passed through the house a bill ordering the 51,000 teachers to be back on the job Wednesday.
The move ends a three-week strike over wages and working conditions that left more than 740,000 students out of class in the largest walkout in Alberta history.
The bill uses the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to shield the legislation from any court challenge on violating teachers’ constitutional rights to association.
The bill includes steep fines for non-compliance: up to $500 a day for individuals and up to $500,000 a day for the union.
Schilling says while the teachers association is still contemplating a court challenge, he declined to say what that might look like. “We’ll have to leave it up to the experts who we work with in terms of our lawyers about how we move forward with that,” he said.
Asked about the prospect of a court challenge, Justice Minister Mickey Amery said in a statement that the Alberta government wouldn’t speculate on potential court actions.
The core dispute with teachers centred around their demands for tangible fixes to address overcrowded classrooms and faltering supports for students with special needs.
Smith’s government has promised to hire 3,000 more teachers and address class sizes and complexities with a panel.
Schilling said they expect to be full partners in that panel.
“We are tired simply of being invited to be participants in government committees and action groups,” he said. “We want to be partners rather than props.”
Schilling reiterated that using the notwithstanding clause to end a labour dispute is a gross abuse of power.
“This is an assault on the rights of every Albertan,” he said. “If government can use this clause to use teachers’ rights today, what will stop them from using it against someone else tomorrow?”
Smith has said the sheer size of the strike and the need to have labour peace at provincial and local levels over the next four years made it necessary to invoke the clause.
That decision continued to ripple Tuesday across the labour front and to Toronto and Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
A coalition of Alberta unions representing 350,000 workers, known as the Common Front, has promised an “unprecedented response” to the notwithstanding clause being used, with an announcement promised Wednesday.
In Ottawa, a spokesperson for federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser said in a statement, “Our government takes the use of the notwithstanding clause seriously and are reviewing the bill.”
Smith’s use of the notwithstanding clause to squash the strike comes after a similar move by Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government in 2022.
It used the clause to prevent a court challenge to a bill stopping 55,000 school support workers from going on strike, but after workers walked off the job and shut down schools in response Ford’s government repealed it.
Speaking to reporters in Toronto, Ford wouldn’t say if he supported Smith’s move.
“She’s running Alberta, I’m not,” Ford said Tuesday. “She knows what people want, what they don’t want, but good luck to Danielle Smith.”
Back in Alberta, schools and school boards worked to get students ready to return to class.
The boards said the plan is to resume normal operations as quickly as possible, but acknowledged there would be changes and delays.
The Edmonton Public School Board said it will have more information later on school fees and January diploma exams. Edmonton Catholic Schools said any professional development day scheduled between Wednesday and Nov. 17 will be postponed.
In Calgary, the city’s Board of Education said buses will be running, but students and parents should be prepared for possible delays, and students should not be left alone at bus stops. The board also said extracurricular activities like sports events and field trips may be delayed, rescheduled or cancelled.
The Calgary Catholic School District said all athletic events are cancelled up to Friday, with revised schedules coming. It said all scheduled breaks and teacher professional days remain in place.
At the Alberta legislature, politicians resumed the fall sitting after staying up until 2 a.m. Tuesday to pass the back-to-work bill by putting one-hour limits on debate at each stage.
Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi told reporters the bill is “the most cowardly act I have ever seen from any government.”
“Every single Albertan deserves to be angry today,” he said. “We didn’t solve any problems. But we also showed that this government is willing to trample on anybody’s human rights.”
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides reiterated he was disappointed the strike came to this conclusion, but said the priority is the well-being of students and preventing the negative consequences of the strike, including academic disruption.
He said his ministry has provided school boards with direction to ensure they can re-open successfully. “We’ve indicated that we’re available to provide any additional support that they may need,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2025.
— With files from Allison Jones in Toronto
Lisa Johnson and Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
