NDP leadership hopefuls line up to condemn Alberta's use of notwithstanding clause to end teachers' strike

OTTAWA — Federal NDP leadership candidates are backing Alberta’s spurned labour unions after the Alberta government used the notwithstanding clause to force striking teachers back to the classroom. 

Edmonton MP Heather McPherson took to social media shortly after the back-to-work bill was tabled on Monday night, calling it an “unprecedented attack on workers” and “direct assault on our democracy.”

The Alberta government bill , passed early Tuesday morning, used the notwithstanding clause to lock in a government-proposed deal over the objections of teachers, paving the way for classes to resume this week. This marks the first time that the constitutional provision, which allows legislatures to temporarily suspend certain rights, has been invoked in an Alberta law.

The bill also bypassed Alberta’s Bill of Rights and Human Rights Act.

McPherson said in a video message that the legislation sets a “dangerous precedent” for workers across Canada and called on all concerned Canadians to make their objections known.

“If we don’t stand up now, that line (Alberta Premier) Danielle Smith has crossed, that line will keep moving,” said McPherson.

McPherson has had her own skin in the game with a son in grade 12, one of roughly 750,000 students across the province impacted by the three-week-long teachers’ strike.

She told reporters in Ottawa last week that she fully supported the striking teachers and put any loss to her son’s education “solely on the shoulders of Danielle Smith.”

Fellow NDP leadership hopeful Rob Ashton was quick to follow McPherson’s lead, calling the Alberta back-to-work legislation “shameful” in a statement released on Tuesday morning.

“This isn’t just a provincial issue, and this isn’t just about teachers. It’s about every worker in this country. It’s about our families and our future,” said Ashton.

Ashton, who is also president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada, promised to help his “union family in Alberta” fight back against the legislation.

“Workers have fought back before, and we have won. And make no mistake, we will win again,” said Ashton.

A third candidate, filmmaker and activist Avi Lewis, expressed his support for the Alberta Teachers’ Association and Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan in a social media post .

McGowan called the Smith government’s use of the notwithstanding clause to end the teachers’ strike a declaration of war on Canadian workers, and says he’ll work with partners across the country to unleash an “unprecedented response.”

He invoked the memory of past general strikes when musing about possible responses on Monday.

“The stakes are at least as high now as they were when our forebears made the decision to participate in things like the (Winnipeg) General Strike of 1919,” McGowan told reporters outside Alberta’s legislature.

McGowan’s AFL is one of several labour unions digging in for a no-holds-barred fight with Alberta’s government.

The executive council of the Canadian Labour Congress will be holding an emergency meeting on the situation in Alberta on Tuesday evening, according to multiple sources.

Former NDP strategist Erin Morrison, currently a vice-president at Texture Communication, said that the prospect of an extended Alberta-wide labour disruption raises the stakes for both McPherson and Ashton.

“No doubt, both will stand with teachers as Danielle Smith attacks their right to strike — but can Ashton use this as a leadership moment? Or will McPherson rise when all eyes are set on her home province?” said Morrison.

Morrison also said the focus on Alberta could further squeeze Lewis out of the picture.

“Although it’s too early to count anyone out, my read of the membership is that it’s shaking out to be a contest between Ashton and McPherson, said Morrison.

National Post rmohamed@postmedia.com

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