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A Edmonton judge has ruled against a bid for an injunction seeking to pause provincial legislation that forced thousands of striking Alberta school teachers back to work last year.
On Friday, Court of King’s Bench Justice Douglas Mah said his decision is not the end of the road for the Alberta Teachers’ Association’s challenge, and should not be understood as an endorsement of the Alberta government’s Back to School Act.
Mah explained that granting an interlocutory injunction requires three legal tests to be proven: that it is a serious issue to be tried; that the applicant will suffer irreparable harm until the case is heard in full; and that the balance of convenience favours the applicant.
Mah told court that the ATA successfully established the first part, finding there is a serious issue to be tried as to whether the notwithstanding clause was appropriately invoked by the province.
He also found that, while the ATA did suffer harm, it does not reach the threshold of irreparable harm and that granting an injunction would not reverse the harm as it has already been manifested.
Public interest
In the third test, Mah said the balance of convenience favours the province, noting the ATA did not show that granting the injunction would benefit the public interest more than not.
On this point, he said, strike consequences would adversely affect students, their families, and the public at large.
The legislation, passed in October following a three-week strike, forced more than 51,000 teachers back to work and imposed a four-year collective agreement on educators.
In passing the bill, the Alberta government invoked the notwithstanding clause of the Charter in an attempt to shield the legislation from legal challenges.
The Alberta Teachers’ Association, in turn, filed a constitutional challenge and sought a court injunction asking the courts to suspend the law while the broader constitutional case unfolds. A court hearing on the constitutional merits of the legislation is expected to be heard in September.
The Back to School Act mandates educator salary increases of three per cent a year, and commits the government to hiring 3,000 teachers and 1,500 educational assistants over three years.
The act also prohibits teachers from taking job action, such as strikes, until 2028.
Lawyers for the ATA argued the act violates teachers’ constitutional rights, and that the government did not properly invoke the notwithstanding clause. The union contended that the clause was used retroactively to institute a contract that teachers had already rejected.
The provincial government’s legal team said the ATA’s case does not meet the legal grounds for an injunction, and that lifting the notwithstanding clause — and putting teachers back in a legal strike position — would not be in the public interest.
On the second day of the Alberta Teachers’ Association’s injunction hearing, the court heard the province’s arguments. A decision on the injunction is expected by March 13.
