Despite sympathy from judge, ATA injunction application denied

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on March 14, 2026.

newsdesk@medicinehatnews.com

The Alberta Teachers Association’s application for an injunction to suspend legislation that forced teachers back to work in October has been rejected.

The ATA was in court last week for a hearing to determine whether Bill 2, the Back to School Act, should be suspended pending the outcome of a legal challenge.

The UCP government used the notwithstanding clause to impose a collective agreement that nearly 90 per cent of Alberta teachers rejected in September, sending 51,000 striking teachers back to work in late October.

In a statement Friday, ATA president Jason Schilling said Court of King’s Bench Justice Douglas Mah’s ruling spoke directly to teachers.

“While disappointing, it does not signal the end of our fight to restore the fundamental freedoms that Bill 2 stripped from Alberta’s teachers in the fall. We see the government’s use of the notwithstanding clause for what it is: a means to silence teachers and sidestep the Charter,” said Schilling. “This is not normal governance and is an affront to all Albertans.”

Despite rejecting the injunction, Justice Mah expressed disapproval of the use of the notwithstanding clause.

“I can well imagine the incredulity, if not the despair and disrespect, that teachers felt upon the passage of the BSA [Back to School Act],” stated Mah in his decision. “The exercise of their right to strike, a democratic right guaranteed under Canada’s Constitution and their only bargaining chip, was eliminated and a previously rejected collective agreement was rammed down their throats.”

Interlocutory injunctions in Canada are granted on the basis of meeting three criteria: that there is a serious question to be tried, that the applicant will suffer irreparable harm if denied the relief, and that the balance of inconvenience pending trial favours the applicant.

The ATA’s request failed to pass all three of the tests.

Mah also said granting the injunction would fail to reverse the harm that has already manifested.

Although the injunction failed, a full hearing remains scheduled for the week of Sept. 21 2026. Mah said the Supreme Court of Canada may provide further clarity about when and how the notwithstanding clause is validly invoked by that time.

Schilling was also asked about the Alberta government’s announcement Friday that it would invest an additional $90 million for 6,000 new spaces at independent schools.

“The association has policy that has been clearly stated for years that we believe public dollars should be spent on public schools,” said Schilling. “The fact that government is now going to start spending public dollars to build private schools in this province should be alarming to all Albertans. We’re an outlier now in Canada in terms of spending public dollars in this way.”

Alberta allocates the most public funding for private schools in the country. Several provinces do not allocate any public money on private schools.

Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides says independent schools serve many students with complex learning needs.

“Supporting school choice ensures families can select the learning environment that best meets their child’s unique needs and gives students the support they need to succeed,” said Nicolaides.

Schilling said not all parents can afford to send their children with special needs to private schools.

“We need to provide funding, staff, education assistants, programming, resources, for all of our students, especially our most vulnerable students. The public system can accommodate it, but government actually has to invest in those students.”

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