Category: Labour/Employment Page 1 of 12

Back to School Notwithstanding the Charter

On October 30, 2025

In Constitutional, Education, Labour/Employment, Rule of Law, Statutory Interpretation

By: Shaun Fluker and JD students registered in the Public Interest Law Clinic

Legislation Commented On: Back to School Act, SA 2025 (full citation unavailable at publication time)

PDF Version: Back to School Notwithstanding the Charter

On Monday October 27, 2025, the Minister of Finance Nate Horner tabled Bill 2, Back to School Act, in the second session of the current Legislature, and the UCP government subsequently pushed it through all three readings of the legislative process, effectively passing it on the same day it was introduced. The Back to School Act came into force on royal assent on October 28, 2025. The Act legislates the end of the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) strike and imposes labour terms between the Province of Alberta and the ATA for 4 years. While this alone warrants significant scrutiny, section 3 of the Act goes further and pre-emptively invokes the Charter’s notwithstanding clause (section 33), immunizing the Act from being struck because it unlawfully infringes sections 2 and 7 to 15 of the Charter. This post explains why the Back to School Act remains justiciable, which is to say, a law still amenable to judicial scrutiny.

Whistleblower Protection Denied for Employee Who Made Unsubstantiated Claims Against Employer

By Thao Nguyen

On October 29, 2025

In Labour/Employment

By: Thao Nguyen

Case Commented On: Jazz Aviation LP v ALPA, 2024 CanLII 99705 (CA LA)

PDF Version: Whistleblower Protection Denied for Employee Who Made Unsubstantiated Claims Against Employer

In 2019, Jazz Aviation LP (Jazz) terminated the employment of a unionized employee who published repeated claims that the company was engaged in illegal conduct, including bribing union officials. While a labour arbitration determined there was no truth to these allegations, an issue arose during the arbitration hearing as to whether the employee was entitled to protection as a whistleblower.

Domestic Violence and Legal Responses to COVID-19 in Alberta

By Jennifer Koshan

On April 10, 2020

In Access to Justice, COVID-19, Family, Labour/Employment, Landlord/Tenant, State Responses to Violence

By: Jennifer Koshan

PDF Version: Domestic Violence and Legal Responses to COVID-19 in Alberta

Matters Commented On: Ministerial Order No 2020-011 (Community and Social Services); Court of Queen’s Bench Of Alberta, Amended Master Order #2 Relating to Court’s Response to the COVID-19 Virus; Court of Queen’s Bench Of Alberta, Pandemic Operations/ FAQ; The Provincial Court of Alberta, COVID-19 Pandemic Planning for the Scheduling of Matters

Many commentators have remarked on how COVID-19 and government orders to self-isolate will lead to increased rates of domestic violence and adversely impact victims of domestic violence seeking protection. Last weekend, for example, UN Secretary General António Guterres remarked that there has already been a “horrifying global surge in domestic violence” and urged “all governments to make the prevention and redress of violence against women a key part of their national response plans for COVID-19.” The law clearly has a significant role to play in this context. As noted in a previous post, domestic violence matters engage many legal issues: civil protection order law, criminal law, family and child protection law, residential tenancies law, social assistance and housing law, and employment law, to name a few. This post reviews some of the efforts of lawmakers and courts in Alberta to respond to domestic violence issues in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies some areas where further measures are needed. My focus is on domestic violence – in other words, violence in the context of intimate partner relationships – rather than child or elder abuse. Child and elder abuse cases also present challenging issues in the current pandemic, but they are beyond the scope of my analysis here.

Bill 26 and the Rights of Farm and Ranch Workers in Alberta

By Jennifer Koshan

On November 29, 2019

In Constitutional, Labour/Employment

By: Jennifer Koshan

PDF Version: Bill 26 and the Rights of Farm and Ranch Workers in Alberta

Bill Commented On: Bill 26, Farm Freedom and Safety Act, 2019 (First Session, 30th Legislature)

As promised in its election platform, the UCP government has taken steps to repeal parts of Bill 6, the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act – the NDP’s initiative to extend labour and employment protections to farm and ranch workers. For previous posts on the need for Bill 6 and the changes that it made to labour and employment legislation in Alberta, see here. The latest development in this saga is last week’s introduction of Bill 26, the Farm Freedom and Safety Act, 2019, which had second reading in the legislature on November 26, 2019. This post will describe the changes that Bill 26 seeks to make and discuss the possibilities of a constitutional challenge to the Bill.

Hearsay? Another Perspective on Farm and Ranch Work and the Alleged Flaws of Bill 6

By Jennifer Koshan

On April 9, 2019

In Labour/Employment

By: Jennifer Koshan

PDF Version: Hearsay? Another Perspective on Farm and Ranch Work and the Alleged Flaws of Bill 6

Matter Commented On: United Conservative Party Proposal to Repeal Bill 6, the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act; Hearsay Podcast of March 19, 2019

Even before the provincial election was called, the United Conservative Party (UCP) announced that it would “make good on a key promise to Alberta’s farm families and repeal Bill 6.” The announcement claims that the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) failed to consult farmers in enacting the Bill, resulting in a loss of “public trust with farm and ranch families.” The UCP promises to “immediately launch comprehensive consultations with farmers, ranchers, agriculture workers and others on how best to balance the unique economic pressures of farming with the need for a common sense, flexible farm safety regime.” These consultations are intended to “develop recommendations for the introduction of the Farm Freedom and Safety Act (FFSA), which will be passed into law in 2019.”