Calgarians standing up against UCP government’s use of notwithstanding clause

Calgarians rallied against the Alberta United Conservative government’s use of the notwithstanding clause to end the teacher strike on Saturday.

The “Withstanding Up” rally at Calgary City Hall brought a couple of hundred people to protest and demonstrate against what they see as workers’ rights not being protected.

The rally was organized by the nonprofit Alberta Civic Integrity Project and various grassroots groups.

Some are saying the use of the notwithstanding clause is an attack on their rights by the province, and are calling out government overreach.

“What it shows is that really anyone’s rights are up for negotiation,” said speaker and advocate Dr. Victoria Bucholtz.

“If you don’t like the deal that the government offers you, and you protest against that, the government will simply violate your rights, and there’s nothing you can do about it. And what we’re seeing is not the way that the notwithstanding clause was ever intended to be used.”

The rarely used notwithstanding clause was invoked by Premier Danielle Smith’s government to pass Bill 2 — effectively ending the three-week-long teacher strike — which allows it to override certain constitutional rights temporarily.

Smith defended its use in a Friday press conference, and again on her weekend Corus radio show.

“I didn’t want this carrying on for months and months and months because what happens with our bargaining with teachers is we do bargaining at a provincial table to settle some big issues – and then, there’s a bargaining that happens at each of the 61 school boards,” she said.

“What didn’t want to see is 61 individual strikes breaking out.”

The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) is challenging the constitutionality of the law in court.

Back at the rally, Adriana McCruden, a teacher of more than two decades, is also a canvasser for a petition on provincial funding for independent or private schools.

“They fund private education higher than any other province in the country – and they fund public education at the lowest, right, compared to other provinces in our country,” she told CityNews.

There were also protesters from various other groups and causes at this event.

“It is the epitome of a grassroots movement that is starting from just people who look at what’s happening and say, ‘I don’t like this,’ finding each other, and it is growing in size and frequency. So I think by the time we hit the next election, this could be a powerful, powerful movement here across our province,” Bucholtz said.

The ATA is asking the court to pause Bill 2 until its constitutional challenge is heard.