Alberta teacher draws criticism from premier after ‘out of context’ classroom political rant

A teacher in central Alberta is facing criticism, including from the premier, after a recording of him lecturing students on conservatives went viral on social media.

The audio, which has not been verified by CityNews, is one minute and 39 seconds long, and appears to be clipped from a longer speech.

Posts on social media indicate the incident happened in St. André Bessette Catholic School in Fort Saskatchewan, about 25 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

“Your entire society is built on f—k Trudeau stickers, oil pipelines. You bad, I good — angry,” the educator says while imitating a caveman-like voice. “OK, but you can’t control your entire society with anger.”

“Me not angry if me rich,” he continued. “‘OK, so we’re going to give you jobs,’ ‘Oh OK, what kind of jobs?’ ‘I don’t know, what kind of jobs do you want?’ ‘Oil jobs! Now'”

After the exchange of commentary with himself, the teacher says that it’s representative of the people of Fort McMurray.

The northern Alberta town is most known for its booming oil sands that attract workers from across the country.

The teacher identifies himself as having grown up in Bonnyville, about four hours south east of Fort McMurray.

The recording continues with the mention of solar panels, which the teacher says wouldn’t fly in Fort Mac because there’s little support for energy production outside oil and gas.

He also says at one time, he drove his electric car to Fort McMurray once and while he got some positive comments from passersby, he ultimately didn’t park outside of his destination because he was concerned about getting run over by a truck.

The latter part of the audio has the teacher express his belief that conservatives are confident voting blue is the only option.

“But the idea is, they’re like, they are conservative, and you walk up there, and you’re like, ‘I think you guys should consider other possibilities of political parties,’ and they’re like, ‘but there is no other political parties.’ But yeah, there’s the NDP, and the Green Party, and the Liberals, they’re like… But you could you could maybe, like, but they just don’t.”

Following the release of the audio, a screenshot of an email from St. André Bessette Catholic School principal Scott Walker was shared. In it, he acknowledges the recording and says it “will likely be the subject of a social media influencers podcast [sic] this evening.”

It is unclear what date this email was sent, or when the recording was made.

“Our school and school division are aware and have engaged the necessary steps and staff at this point,” Hunter writes. “This email is for your awareness at this point.

“Should you come across any of this online through any avenues, please do not engage with it.”

Walker also says the audio in question is “a recording snippet of out of context content of one of our classes that has been shared online.”

Premier: Teachers should remain ‘professional and politically neutral’

Reposting the audio to her social media Thursday afternoon, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith expressed disappointment.

“Teachers have a duty to remain professional and politically neutral in the classroom,” she said. “Students are there to learn math, langugae, science, and critical thinking based on the approved curriculum, not to be subjected to profanity, partisan attacks, or insults toward Alberta’s ethical energy workers and their families.

“Our classrooms must be places of respect where every student, and every family, feels welcome regardless of their political views or where they work.”

The post on social media circulating the audio has more than 300,000 views.

Incident under investigation by school board

Some users are calling for the teacher to be fired.

In a statement, Elk Island Catholic Schools, the division to which St. André Bessette Catholic School belongs, says the conduct depicted in the recording doesn’t align with its core values of recognizing the inherent value and dignity of all people and requires further investigation.

“EICS expects all educators to uphold the highest standards of professionalism and to present the curriculum in an unbiased, respectful manner,” said board chair Le-Ann Ewaskiw. “We are taking this matter very seriously.”

She says that a thorough internal review and investigation into the incident are currently underway. To protect the investigation and privacy of those involved, Ewaskiw says there will be no additional comment from the board.

In a statement to CityNews, the Alberta Teachers’ Association says it has no comment on the school division’s matter.