UCP’s Motion 5 is a threat to democracy in Alberta
By Lethbridge Herald on November 1, 2025.
Editor,
Regardless of how one feels about Alberta’s ongoing teachers’ dispute, Motion 5 should concern every Albertan.
The government’s decision to grant itself the ability to introduce, debate, and pass legislation all in a single day is not merely a matter of education or labour relations — it is a matter of democratic integrity.
Allowing any government to bypass the standard legislative process undermines transparency, accountability, and public trust. Today, it may be used to silence teachers. Tomorrow, it could be used to silence anyone who dares to dissent.
Supporters of Premier Danielle Smith may applaud this move, but one must ask — would the same be said if the roles were reversed and an NDP government had done the same?
This is not about partisan politics; it is about the concentration of power and the erosion of democratic safeguards.
Those who once rallied against government overreach under the banner of “freedom” should be the most alarmed. When governments can override rights at their convenience, freedom ceases to be a principle and becomes a privilege extended only when politically convenient.
Even if teachers are compelled to return to work, they continue to deserve our respect and support. Teachers form the foundation of our society — shaping the dreamers, thinkers, and doers of tomorrow. If we deny them fair treatment and basic rights, we set a precedent that devalues not only their profession but the future of the children they serve.
Democracy demands vigilance. Motion 5 is not just a legislative shortcut — it is a warning.
Terri Dillabough
Lethbridge
12-11
Democracy is under threat when we allow unelected and appointed judges to decide ruling and events. Democracy is not under threat as long as you can go to the polls and vote. When is the last time you voted for a judge.
Tin foil hat talk bucky.
“The bedrocks of democracy are weakening across the globe, with half of countries suffering democratic declines ranging from flawed elections to curtailed rights, such as freedoms of expression and assembly, according to a new report by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Stockholm.
This deterioration has been exacerbated by the erosion of formal ‘checks and balances’—elections, parliaments and courts—that have struggled to uphold the law and hold politicians to account.”
https://www.idea.int/news/bedrocks-democracy-under-threat-across-globe
Exactly
appointing them sure is wiser than electing them. the usa provides a fair warning as to what a society gets when judges (and sheriffs) are elected. one gets the same sleazy and corrupted outcomes that we get from political elections. our justice system remains open for improvement, but we have a better judicial system than does the usa.
Faced with a militant teachers union’s ability to totally disrupt the lives of every family with children in school , the government used the notwithstanding clause to ensure a return to work that would prevent further disruptions to children’s education. It’s not as if other provincial governments have never used this action before.
“The preemptive use of the notwithstanding clause cannot be allowed to normalize. Neither should the curtailment of legislative debate become routine. Overuse of these extraordinary measures—especially when coupled with provisions that also set aside the Alberta Bill of Rights and the Alberta Human Rights Act—risks undermining the constitutional and human-rights architecture that protects all Albertans. We cannot take the Rule of Law for granted; if we do, it may not be there to protect our rights when we most need it.”
https://cba-alberta.org/news/cba-alberta-statement-on-the-use-of-the-notwithstanding-clause/
“If you’re a member of any of Alberta’s 22 regulated professions, Bill 40 (Professional Governance Act) has stripped your association of the ability to set independent standards and removed your legal right to collective bargaining. The UCP included a notwithstanding clause signal in debate and has given the Minister unprecedented power to override professional judgment when it’s politically convenient.”
https://www.reddit.com/r/alberta/comments/1oidgua/bill_40_removes_our_right_to_selfgovern_time_to/
“The rule of law is closely tied to both democracy and human rights. The erosion of the rule of law, within a rising number of countries and in international relations, places populations under increasingly authoritarian and rights-abusing governments and threatens to destabilize peaceful relations among states.”
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/rule-of-law-under-pressure/rule-of-law-under-pressure/4B514D895126DE8E573539620D442EEE
100% correct! If the ATA Union wanted to resolve the teacher’s contract without their strike action, why didn’t they enter into the proposed “enhanced mediation”? Simple reason, the mediation would base the ATA demands on current labour conditions, market economy, cost of living and guess what, the mediated settlement would have been less pay and benefits that what the government was offering! The ATA knew this and instead of negotiating in good faith chose to hold students as hostages causing added stress and costs on parents.
The government did the right and prudent action any their legislating teachers back to work.
The government restricted their mediation offer to only mediate contract provisions the government wanted. The union offered to go to mediation if all contract provisions could be discussed. The failure was based on the government’s refusal to negotiate. Guess what? The teachers might have taken less pay and benefits in exchange for better conditions for students and for themselves.
You are absolutely wrong, the ATS was asked to be party to the “enhanced mediation” hi check your sources. The mediation would have been independent of Union demands and government proposals!
Reality: Why don’t you just come clean and be truthful? Why don’t say you don’t care enough about class size and classroom complexity and their impact on teaching and learning to have provisions on these issues written into the contract?
You have it right.
The UCP and Danielle Smith were in the wrong, once again.
Faced with a militant government determined to degrade the quality of education for every child in school, you have to wonder what our kids lives will be like. Still, it’s not like we’ve never had serfs before in human history.
hardly wise to try and support the use of a clause that undermines our charter rights and freedoms on the basis that other provinces have done so.
You have no clue, and it clearly shows. No other provincial government in Alberta’s history used the Notwithstanding Clause to stop a legal right to strike.
It’s all part of the playbook: the crushing of unions, deregulation of health and environmental protection, privatization, outsourcing of public services, dismantling of support for the vulnerable, and undermining the effectiveness of health care and education. All while directing massive tax cuts for corporations and the rich.
One has to admire the creativity of the MAGA- UCP for also politicizing the police, alienating people from participating in elections, and dumping loads of tax dollars into the pockets of penny-stock Australian coal companies.
It’s probably time to really Take Back Alberta, but this time from demagoguery and corruption.
Well said.
this may smack of fascism, but so long as the fascists are the ucp it is ok, right all you only-ever-vote-for-con-named-party types?
While we continue to see these mindless seniors spouting their stupidity we continue to see these Reformers take our democratic rights away and they are too stupid to understand it.
You certainly have it right. I know you know what actual Conservatives are, and the UCP are the farthest thing from being true Conservatives. Here are two cabinet ministers from Peter Lougheed’s Alberta PC government, Jim Foster and David King. There are hardly any cabinet ministers or MLAs from Peter Lougheed’s Alberta PC government left alive, but those that are still alive, do not trust the UCP and Danielle Smith, because they know how bad they are.
Former Red Deer PC Attorney General Jim Foster takes issue with Smith’s ethics violation | Red Deer Advocate https://share.google/JXtD7fjgWB6cV1kze
Opinion: Alberta undermining public education — and democracy | Edmonton Journal https://share.google/LOgpKd2Ujw58aO2gr
Your username is very apt, because it’s easy to see that you have no liking of pretend Conservatives. The UCP seem to be like the Social Credit Party, which Peter Lougheed fought so hard to remove from power. Peter Lougheed also said that he didn’t like the Reform Party, because they reminded him of the Social Credit Party that he worked so hard to defeat. I remember reading about Preston Manning in the 1960s, and how he was trying to coax Peter Lougheed’s Alberta PC Party to merge with the Social Credit Party, which was led by his dad, Ernest Manning. Peter Lougheed was very smart and said no. The Social Credit Party trampled on human rights, got very bad oil royalty rates, didn’t care about the environment, and did other bad things that Peter Lougheed vowed to correct, after he came to power, which he did. Danielle Smith and the UCP are very similar to the Social Credit Party. Very bad.