Juno News - Alberta fast-tracks Back to School Act

00:00:00.000 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's government will table and fast-track legislation on Monday

00:00:16.100 to force teachers back to work. Smith also outlined her government's priorities in a

00:00:21.120 new throne speech focused on sovereignty, economic growth, and Alberta's future within Canada,

00:00:26.260 while Alberta NDP leader Nahid Nenshi accused her of pursuing misguided priorities that he will

00:00:33.320 oppose despite his caucus lacking the power to stop it. A new study found that Alberta's charter

00:00:38.660 schools have outperformed every other type of school in the province on every test across all

00:00:44.140 subjects and grades. And Alberta's municipal elections were filled with stories, most notably

00:00:49.240 that the two major cities elected mayors who pursued woke policies in their campaigns.

00:00:54.260 All that and more on this week's Alberta Roundup, I'm your host Isaac Lamoureux and let's jump right

00:00:58.640 into that first story. So the Alberta government issued an order paper on Thursday highlighting

00:01:03.160 that it will end the teachers' strike on Monday and force teachers back to work. According to the

00:01:08.080 order paper, Bill 2, the Back to School Act, will be introduced and advanced through all legislative

00:01:13.100 stages in a single day under Standing Order 77-2, with debate at each stage limited to one hour.

00:01:19.940 A spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance told True North that the government is ensuring

00:01:24.140 that students and teachers can return to the classrooms as soon as possible. They said,

00:01:28.140 quote,

00:01:28.520 The decision to introduce the Back to School Act was not taken lightly, but it is the only responsible

00:01:33.900 path forward to end ongoing disruptions, close achievement gaps, and restore confidence in

00:01:39.100 our education system. The government's move follows nearly three weeks of province-wide job action

00:01:44.360 involving about 51,000 teachers and 2,500 schools affecting roughly 750,000 students. The government's

00:01:52.140 last contract offer included a 12% wage increase over four years, which would have seen 3,000 new

00:01:57.880 teachers and 1,500 educational assistants hired, and lifted pay grids so that more than 95% of the

00:02:04.400 teachers would have seen raises up to 17%. But teachers overwhelmingly rejected that proposal,

00:02:09.580 with almost 90% voting against it. And Alberta Teachers Association President Jason Schilling launched the

00:02:15.900 strike with few clear demands on what would be required to end it. He accused the government of

00:02:20.700 underfunding public education, citing classroom complexity and staff shortages as key issues.

00:02:26.140 However, Smith has questioned whether class size caps are enforceable in the first place,

00:02:30.320 noting that Alberta already has roughly 35,000 full-time teachers to 740,000 students,

00:02:36.060 which would be 21 students per teacher. But of course, if you go off Schilling's number,

00:02:39.740 which is 51,000 teachers, it would actually be a student to teacher ratio of 15 to 1. So Smith said,

00:02:45.340 quote, we just simply have a space restriction. We just had 100,000 kids almost come into the system

00:02:51.660 in three years, and we have a physical space restriction that we are working through. Smith has

00:02:56.060 also said that she can't just make schools appear from thin air, it takes time to build them. And the

00:03:00.620 finance ministry told True North that it prefers to negotiate, but absent a reasonable offer being

00:03:05.500 presented, action to restore and protect the students' right to learn will be taken. The

00:03:10.220 spokesperson said, quote, the government engaged in extensive negotiations with the Alberta Teachers

00:03:15.260 Association over the past 18 months to reach a fair and reasonable settlement. Despite these efforts,

00:03:20.940 two failed votes on settlements either proposed or supported by the ATA and a refusal by the ATA to

00:03:26.780 engage in enhanced mediation, the ongoing strike has continued to harm students and families.

00:03:32.540 For our next story, we'll stick a bit with the Alberta legislature, of course, talking about

00:03:36.140 the recently delivered throne speech. So Lieutenant Governor Salma Lakhani opened the legislature on

00:03:41.580 Thursday with a throne speech outlining Premier Smith's priorities for the fall session,

00:03:45.820 centered on provincial sovereignty, economic development, and new initiatives in AI and energy

00:03:50.380 security. A central theme covered by Lakhani was moving Alberta forward with results. And in a press

00:03:55.820 release accompanying the speech, Alberta Premier Daniel Smith said, quote,

00:03:59.580 Albertans have been clear about their priorities, and this government is acting on them. Through this

00:04:04.140 legislative session, we are putting those priorities into action with policies that

00:04:07.980 strengthen healthcare, improve classrooms, protect freedoms, and advance nation-building projects.

00:04:13.580 The speech credited Alberta's direct diplomacy with the United States for avoiding sweeping

00:04:17.980 tariffs that once threatened tens of thousands of Alberta jobs and billions in lost provincial

00:04:23.020 revenues, calling it a diplomatic victory that kept most of the exports tariff-free.

00:04:27.980 The government reaffirmed its pledge to defend and exercise its constitutional jurisdiction

00:04:32.540 against federal overreach while continuing to expand relations with U.S. counterparts.

00:04:38.060 Lakhani also spoke about Alberta's sovereignty and independence. She reaffirmed that the

00:04:43.340 government believes in a strong, free, and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.

00:04:48.620 She said, quote,

00:04:49.740 Sovereignty does not mean separation. Strength and self-determination do not have to mean

00:04:55.020 national independence. However, she did specify that a majority of Albertans understand that the

00:05:00.300 federal-provincial relationship is flawed and that Alberta should be empowered to pursue areas of its

00:05:05.660 jurisdiction. Lakhani confirmed the government was reviewing what it heard and learned from the

00:05:10.140 Alberta next town halls with recommendations forthcoming. Smith's government vowed to stabilize

00:05:15.740 provincial finances and safeguard Alberta's low tax advantage despite global instability and falling

00:05:21.900 energy prices. The province remains committed to growing the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund

00:05:26.860 to more than $250 billion by 2050, prohibiting the government from spending investment returns until

00:05:33.420 then and ensuring that the province can excel without being reliant on non-renewable resources

00:05:38.460 in the future. Lakhani said, quote,

00:05:40.540 This government will hold spending increases below inflation plus population growth and invest wisely

00:05:46.460 in health, education, roads, policing, and other core services. The government also announced plans

00:05:52.860 to transform Alberta into a global hub for artificial intelligence, leveraging its abundant natural gas

00:05:58.620 supply to power data centers. Lakhani said, quote, Alberta is already an energy superpower. Alberta will now

00:06:05.260 also become an AI superpower, making our province a world leader in arguably the world's two most

00:06:10.700 important commodities, energy and computing power. Infrastructure and immigration were also central

00:06:15.740 themes. The speech promised $8.6 billion to open 200,000 new school spaces, thousands of new teaching

00:06:23.100 positions, and major highway expansions, including the Deerfoot Trail, Yellowhead Trail, and highways 3,

00:06:28.940 11, and 63. Smith's government signaled it will seek greater control over immigration, citing,

00:06:35.260 that the province's economy and culture has been entirely upended by the last 10 years of federal

00:06:40.300 immigration policies, which have resulted in an unsustainable level of newcomers entering our 1.00

00:06:45.100 province. The province pledged in its speech to use its constitutionally protected provincial

00:06:49.820 rights to lower the number of immigrants entering Alberta. In terms of public safety, the provincial

00:06:54.460 government pledged to fund, not defund, the police, not enforce the Liberals' gun confiscation scheme,

00:07:01.100 and oppose any legislation from the federal government that censors free speech. The address

00:07:05.500 reiterated Alberta's commitment to protect free expression for regulated professionals, pledging

00:07:10.300 that new legislation, when combined with last year's Alberta Bill of Rights amendments,

00:07:14.620 would solidify Alberta's status as the freest jurisdiction in Canada. The government also stood

00:07:19.740 by its ban on pornographic books in schools. The throne speech sets the stage for a busy fall session,

00:07:25.580 with the Smith government expected to introduce at least 15 bills covering health care, education,

00:07:31.100 public safety, and provincial sovereignty. Alberta NDP leader Nahid Nanshi pledged to stand up against

00:07:36.460 the United Conservative Party's legislative agenda. He accused Premier Daniel Smith's government of

00:07:40.940 misguided priorities in a pre-session speech Wednesday, vowing to oppose the United Conservative

00:07:45.980 Party's legislative agenda, even though his caucus lacks the power to block it. Nanshi said,

00:07:51.020 quote, there's nothing in there on affordability or cost of living. The only bills that have anything

00:07:55.660 to do with education are a potential bill to force the teachers back to work, and one to force trans

00:08:00.700 kids even further into the closet, using for the first time in Alberta's history the notwithstanding

00:08:05.660 clause. Nanshi pledged to oppose elements of the government's agenda, but of course the UCP's

00:08:10.060 majority means the opposition can debate, delay, and criticize, but cannot prevent bills from passing.

00:08:15.580 And speaking of schools, we'll look at a study on charter schools for our next story.

00:08:19.100 A new study from SecondStreet.org has found that Alberta's charter schools outperformed public and

00:08:23.900 Catholic schools across the board. The study examined 22 provincial achievement tests written

00:08:28.780 between 2022 and 2024. It found that charter school students outperformed those in traditional

00:08:34.380 public and Catholic schools on every test across all subjects and grades. On average, charter students

00:08:40.460 scored 9.3 points higher than public school students and 7.7 points higher than Catholic school

00:08:45.900 students. Bacchus Barua, SecondStreet.org's research director and author of the study,

00:08:50.300 said, quote, ask any parent if they want their child to go to a school where students tend to

00:08:54.700 score nearly 10 points higher on average, and the answer is obvious. He said the provincial

00:08:59.420 government should think about how it can help more students access these high-performing schools.

00:09:04.060 The study found the largest gap in grade 9 mathematics, where charter students scored 14.1

00:09:09.500 percentage points higher than public school students in 2024, and the smallest gap was grade 6 science,

00:09:15.580 where results were 6.2 points higher than Catholic schools. Provinces in Canada usually offer three

00:09:20.780 choices for children's education. Government-run public schools, including Catholic and Francophone,

00:09:25.500 independent schools, and homeschooling. But Alberta offers a fourth choice with charter schools.

00:09:29.740 Charter schools are tuition-free, government-funded, and must follow Alberta's curriculum,

00:09:34.220 but they operate independently under non-profit boards. They must accept all students if space

00:09:39.340 allows, often through lottery systems, and focused on distinct learning approaches ranging from science,

00:09:44.540 technology, engineering, and mathematics to classical education. Despite operating on slightly less

00:09:50.220 funding than traditional public schools, which is about $9,400 per student compared to $10,460 per

00:09:56.380 student in 2019-20, charter schools have achieved consistently stronger results. And of course,

00:10:02.220 these findings come amid renewed debate over school choice in Alberta. Because last week,

00:10:06.700 Elections Alberta approved a citizen initiative petition that would ask voters whether to end

00:10:11.020 public funding for independent schools, which would eliminate much of the school choice in the

00:10:15.020 province. Many students attending independent schools do so because they were unable to find

00:10:19.100 success in the public school system. And according to John Jagersma, the executive director of the

00:10:23.580 Association of Independent Schools and Colleges in Alberta, he explained that if this petition passes,

00:10:28.140 it would devastate his sector and force the public school system to absorb an 1.00

00:10:31.900 additional 55,000 students. Which doesn't seem to me like it would accommodate what the teachers are

00:10:36.620 currently complaining about, which is classroom size. But taxpayers would also have to, in fact,

00:10:40.460 pay more for these students considering students currently attending independent schools receive

00:10:44.460 only 70% of the funding they would get if they went to public schools. Paige McPherson,

00:10:49.100 the associate director of education policy at the Fraser Institute, told True North that Alberta is a

00:10:54.460 case study showing that higher education spending does not automatically yield better results.

00:10:59.180 She said that the province outperforms almost every other in PISA, which is the program for

00:11:02.940 international student assessment scores. And according to the study, Alberta's 48 charter

00:11:07.740 schools now educate about 15,400 students, which is only 2% of the province's total enrollment.

00:11:14.700 But of course, demands exceed capacity with an estimated 20,000 students on the wait lists.

00:11:19.660 The study concluded, quote, charter schools not only provide parents and students with more choices in

00:11:24.540 terms of education, but the findings show these schools outperform government-run public schools.

00:11:29.820 On average, students attending charter schools outperform students attending government-run

00:11:34.220 traditional public and government-run Catholic schools in all 22 of 22 instances where comparisons

00:11:40.300 could be made between 2022 and 2024. But for our last story today, we'll actually cover various

00:11:45.820 stories and the many aspects of the province's municipal election results. So Alberta's two major cities,

00:11:51.820 both elected mayors who supported numerous woke policies in their campaigns and starting off

00:11:56.220 with Edmonton, which saw delayed results that eventually crowned Andrew Knack as the new mayor.

00:12:01.180 The results were, of course, extremely delayed compared to Calgary's taking days longer to tally.

00:12:06.380 Lawyer and Edmontonian Eva Chipiuk raised her concerns on X. She said, quote,

00:12:10.940 Edmonton is the capital of Alberta. If it wants to be taken seriously, it needs to act seriously.

00:12:16.300 The problem is not the process, it's the people running it. Thanks to Alberta implementing sweeping

00:12:20.780 changes to local election laws in April 2024, all automated voting equipment, like electronic

00:12:25.980 tabulators, became prohibited at municipal elections and votes were required to be counted by hand.

00:12:30.700 But while some left-wing pundits have tried to blame the government's change for Edmonton's slow

00:12:34.540 pace in tallying the votes, that is clearly without substance considering Calgary had no issue getting

00:12:39.180 the results out in a timely fashion. In fact, Calgary's election was called the night of the election.

00:12:43.500 Some ex-users suggested that this could be a plot by NDP supporters in Edmonton to create the

00:12:48.060 illusion that the province cannot hold elections. Local journalist David Staples raised a similar

00:12:53.100 point, reminding Edmontonians that paper ballots had been counted in a timely fashion for decades

00:12:57.980 without electronic vote counters. He said, quote,

00:13:01.260 the incompetence of our modern city hall is breathtaking. And he highlighted that as of 10 a.m.

00:13:06.140 on Tuesday, Edmonton had counted and reported 54,477 votes. Conversely, Calgary had counted and reported

00:13:13.580 348,642, which was enough to crown the new mayor, Jeremy Farkas. But as for NAC, he supported many

00:13:21.580 woke policies in his campaign, including drug consumption sites, the single-use plastics bylaw,

00:13:26.860 15-minute cities, bike lanes, and more. Some of the policies he supported, such as bike lanes and

00:13:32.220 the single-use plastics bylaw, were only supported by him when the top candidates faced off in a question

00:13:37.820 and answer. And some of his funding pledges, like harm prevention, drew criticism from other candidates.

00:13:42.780 For example, Tim Cartmel said, quote, I'll be a strong advocate here for provincial support,

00:13:47.740 but we cannot put more taxpayer money toward this. Edmontonians are stretched too thin. A NAC

00:13:52.620 government will increase your taxes for this issue. Like NAC, Calgary elected a mayor who supported woke

00:13:58.140 policies in his campaign. During the campaign, Jeremy Farkas pushed woke policies like implementing hate

00:14:03.420 tracking programs, opposing Alberta's efforts to enforce its ban on child gender transition,

00:14:08.380 and celebrated being pro-immigration. For example, Farkas pointed to how his platform

00:14:13.020 includes hate tracking and education programs, culturally competent training for first responders,

00:14:17.980 and the housing equity roadmap to ensure a housing system works for racialized, newcomer,

00:14:22.540 indigenous, disabled, and 2SLGBTQI residents. He also suggested that he would support bike lanes and

00:14:28.860 even lowering speed limits. And he advocated also for masking during the pandemic lockdowns,

00:14:33.660 even celebrating that he required his team to do so. During a municipal debate among the

00:14:37.660 Calgary mayoral candidates, Farkas opposed rhetoric around Alberta separatism and framed the city as a

00:14:43.420 key part of Team Canada. He called the fact that one third of Calgarians not being born in North

00:14:48.780 America as a strength. And despite Farkas being the mayor for now, Sonia Sharp has actually formally

00:14:53.820 requested a recount following her very narrow loss to him in Monday's election. The two were separated

00:15:00.220 by just 585 votes, which is a margin of 0.16%. She said, quote,

00:15:05.740 Thank you to every Calgarian who voted. With a margin of just 585 votes, I will be requesting a

00:15:11.100 recount to ensure every ballot is properly counted. Win or lose, I am grateful for the opportunity and

00:15:16.540 will fully accept the outcome because every voice matters. In an attached statement, Sharp confirmed she

00:15:21.980 had requested the chief returning officer undertake a recount of the October 20th municipal election

00:15:27.020 under the Local Authorities Election Act. Sharp said the request is not meant as a criticism of

00:15:32.060 Calgary's election staff, but as a precaution given the slim difference in votes. She said, quote,

00:15:37.500 Yesterday was challenging for our election workers. Long lines, new procedures, and hand-counting

00:15:42.220 ballots well into the early hours of the morning. This request is by no means a criticism of their hard

00:15:47.980 work. Instead, it suggests that mistakes can occur during stressful situations. Given the

00:15:53.660 razor-thin margin of victory in this election, it makes ample sense to review and double-check

00:15:59.020 that appropriate processes were followed, and the count is accurate. And under Alberta's Local

00:16:04.540 Authorities Election Act, candidates may request a recount if the difference between the two top

00:16:09.100 candidates is within 0.5% of the total ballots cast. The request must be submitted within 72 hours after

00:16:15.980 official results are declared, and it can only be made by the candidate with the second highest

00:16:20.860 number of votes or their agent. Election Calgary's guidelines state that affected candidates must

00:16:25.740 receive 12 hours' notice before the recount begins, and that the recount will be conducted using the same

00:16:31.500 procedures as on Election Day. Candidates, their agents, or scrutineers are encouraged to attend and observe.

00:16:37.740 The current official results have Farkas with 91,071 votes and Sharp with 90,490. Sharp said she will not

00:16:45.660 issue further comments until the recount process is complete. She said, quote,

00:16:50.300 I am happy to accept the outcome of this review, win or lose, because the final word of our citizens

00:16:54.940 is what matters most in local government. Meanwhile, just finishing off here with one

00:16:59.180 quick tidbit about Calgary's election to close things off is that Gondek's loss marks the first

00:17:04.540 time that an incumbent mayor of Calgary has been defeated in a re-election bid since 1980,

00:17:09.660 when Ross Alger lost to Ralph Klein. That wraps up this week's Alberta Roundup. My name's Isaac

00:17:14.540 Lamaru, have a great weekend, thank you, and God bless.

Juno News - October 26, 2025

Alberta fast-tracks Back to School Act

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