For immediate release
October 27, 2025
Naheed Nenshi, Leader of the Official Opposition of Alberta, issued the following statement regarding Bill 2, the Back to School Act:
“Today, the UCP government plans to table and pass Bill 2 in a single day, which will force teachers back to work and students back to school without addressing any of their concerns. No agreement reached, no new measures to address classroom sizes, just an
antidemocratic order to go back to work.
“The UCP has also floated they may use the notwithstanding clause as part of their efforts to ram this bill through. This would be an alarming first in Alberta’s history. It would mean the UCP is willing to intentionally and unjustifiably violate the Charter-protected
rights and freedoms of teachers, workers and their unions—and all Albertans.
To be clear, neither back-to-work legislation nor the notwithstanding clause are needed if the government wants to force teachers back to work. This only allows the UCP to provoke a fight that was never needed.
“What this government should be doing is getting back to the bargaining table with a fair offer that ends the strike properly. Teachers should never have had to risk their own livelihoods just to stand up for themselves and their students.
“Alberta’s New Democrats are calling on Danielle Smith and her government to call off this back-to-work legislation, to denounce any potential use of the notwithstanding clause, and to actually do the hard work they should have been doing months ago to make
classrooms better for teachers and students.
“As I take my seat in Question Period for the first time today, I will be fighting for teachers and students and standing up public education.”
Pinoy Edmonton News 