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Alberta Teachers Gather for First In-Person Annual Meeting in Three Years

Release Date 2022 05 20

After two years of meeting virtually, over 500 teacher delegates from across Alberta are excited to meet face to face to discuss, debate and decide the policies that shape the teaching profession in our province. The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) is set to hold its 105th Annual Representative Assembly (ARA) this weekend at the Hyatt Regency in Calgary. 

What:  105th Annual Representative Assembly
Where:  
Hyatt Regency, 700 Centre Street S, Calgary
When: 
Saturday, May 21 0900–1730
Sunday, May 22  0900–2130
Monday, May 23  0900–1300

 

ATA president Jason Schilling will address the assembly on Saturday morning, with a focus on the challenges facing the teaching profession and public education in our province. Recently passed Bill 15 is the focus of several resolutions, including the following:

  • 3-21/22 Denounce Bill 15, Education (Reforming Teacher Profession Discipline) Amendment Act, 2022
  • 3-22/22 Determine the new role the ATA will take with teacher discipline, our transition from investigator to defender, and our new role as watchdog over the commissioner’s professional regulatory functions.
  • 3-23/22 Eliminate the Education Minister’s unilateral power to arbitrarily disregard or alter the findings or penalties recommended by the commissioner. 
  • 3-24/22 Reassess and strengthen the ATA’s revised identity and function as a labour union to frame future decisions concerning the Association’s direction, program and budget in light of the new reality.
  • 3-25/22 Reaffirm the importance of school leaders, such as principals, as active members of the Association and commit to opposing, with all available means, any effort by government to remove them from the Association and the larger profession.

Honorary memberships presented to former ATA executive secretary Gordon Thomas and former ATA president Mark Ramsankar will also be part of the morning’s proceedings. University of Alberta professor Carla Peck and late GSA pioneer Darren Lund will be honoured with Public Education Awards.

ARA acts as the parliament for the teaching profession in Alberta. Its delegates are teachers who represent, by population, the Association’s 55 locals.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association, as the professional organization of teachers, promotes and advances public education, safeguards standards of professional practice, and serves as the advocate for its 46,000 members.

Media are invited to attend this year’s assembly in person. However, only masked camera operators will be allowed on the assembly floor. Reporters will be able to monitor the proceedings virtually, either on site or remotely. Please contact Mark Milne (mark.milne@ata.ab.ca) for the access link. Please note that some portions of the proceedings are closed to the public.

*Media are requested to text Mark Milne at 780-905-0014 when arriving on site.