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On Tuesday, in question period, Premier Jason Kenney made the following statement in reference to the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA): “The government is accountable to Albertans . . . not to a union that spent $2 million trying to re-elect the NDP in the last election” (Alberta Hansard, p 4837).
The statement about the ATA spending is false. The facts are as follows:
- The ATA registered with Elections Alberta as a third party advertiser in the 2019 election.
- The ATA’s message was nonpartisan, asking Albertans to put “education first.”
- ATA ads urged Albertans to ask candidates where they stood on important education issues, such as class size, support for students with special needs and stable, adequate funding.
- The ATA transparently reported $278,577 in spending to promote a message calling on voters to prioritize support for public education when talking to candidates.
- In alleging that the ATA spent $2 million on partisan advertising, the premier is falsely asserting that the Association violated the province’s election financing laws.
ATA president Jason Schilling is very concerned that the premier would mislead the legislative assembly and the people of Alberta by making false claims, either deliberately or without regard for the truth.
“The ATA has a long history of raising public education as an issue in elections, in a nonpartisan fashion, in order to ensure that the parties clearly outline their plans for education.
“We believe integrity matters, and so we do this with full transparency, in compliance with election law. Jason Kenney, of all people, should be very careful not to accuse the Association of violating election laws.”
—ATA president Jason Schilling
Schilling called upon the premier to either retract his false statement or repeat it outside the legislature, where he will not be able to hide behind parliamentary immunity.
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.
