Page Content
Highlights of the Provincial Executive Council meeting held May 5 and 6, 2022, at Barnett House, Edmonton
1. Authorized that the settlement package, which includes the Mediator’s Recommended Terms of Settlement and the previously agreed to items by the parties, be recommended to the membership for acceptance.
2. Approved the following resolutions for submission to the 2022 Annual Representative Assembly.
(1) That the Association denounce Bill 15, the Education (Reforming Teacher Profession Discipline) Amendment Act, 2022.
(2) That a report be prepared for consideration by the 2023 Annual Representative Assembly proposing strategies, policies, programs and potential electoral ballots in response to legislated changes in the Association’s regulatory role and responsibilities with respect to teacher professional conduct and practice. The report will propose that the ATA
a. transition its role and focus to vigorous representation of members who are subject to investigation and prosecution by the commissioner;
b. assist members, when appropriate, to lay complaints concerning the conduct and/or practice of non-members before the commissioner;
c. provide mediation and other resolution processes to assist in the resolution of conflicts between members outside of the commission process; and
d. facilitate transparency and accountability by monitoring and reporting on the performance of the commissioner’s professional regulatory functions.
(3) That the Association urge the government of Alberta to remove from legislation and regulation the capacity of the education minister to arbitrarily disregard or alter the findings or penalties recommended by a committee established, in statute or regulation, to adjudicate matters relating to teachers’ professional conduct or practice.
(4) That a report be prepared for consideration by the 2023 Annual Representative Assembly proposing strategies, policies, programs and potential electoral ballots that may enhance the capacity of the Association to organize non-unionized teachers and other education workers, co-ordinate action with other labour unions, enhance workplace representation of members and secure membership in provincial and national labour organizations.
(5) That the Association reaffirm the importance of school leaders, as teachers and colleagues, remaining as active members of the Association and commit to opposing, with all available means, any effort by the government to remove them from the Association and the larger profession.
(6) That the Association urge the government of Alberta to delay any mandatory implementation of new curriculum or programs of studies until a full-year pilot has been completed, revisions informed by the pilot have been made, comprehensive professional development has been provided to all affected teachers and appropriate learning resources have been made available to support implementation.
(7) That the Association initiate a broadly-based, outward-facing program of research, expert consultation, public dialogue and member outreach to examine the academic, social, emotional challenges facing students in the post-pandemic period with the objective of identifying potential education policy responses to improve student well-being and success.
(8) That the Association propose a collaboration with the Alberta School Employee Benefit Plan, other benefit providers and the Alberta School Boards Association to develop a program to enhance teacher wellness.
3. Authorized reinstatement of the piping in of members of Council and honoured guests to the opening session of the 2022 Annual Representative Assembly.
4. Approved that all 2023 teachers’ conventions be held in person on their assigned dates.
5. Approved that, in consultation with Franklin Templeton Investments, finance staff set up an investment fund entitled the Defence and Advocacy Fund, whose purpose is to hold legacy assets held prior to July 31, 2022, and utilize all or a portion of the annual investment income derived to fund specific activities determined by the Association to be non-core, as per its interpretation of Bill 32, the Restoring Balance in Alberta’s Workplaces Act.
6. Authorized a transfer of $16,000,000 from the Special Emergency Fund into the Defence and Advocacy Fund.
7. Authorized a transfer of $500,000 from current operating cash holdings to the Defence and Advocacy Fund in order to pay for anticipated 2022/23 non-core activities.
8. Approved Council committee and representation assignments for 2022/23.
9. Received the report of a hearing committee that found a teacher guilty of one charge of unprofessional conduct for inappropriately communicating with a person who was, or was believed to be, under the age of 18 years, for which the teacher was convicted of an indictable offence. The hearing committee imposed a fine of a declaration that the teacher be permanently ineligible for membership in the Association and a recommendation to the minister of education to permanently cancel the teacher’s teaching certificate.
10. Re-established the Finland–Alberta and Alberta–Iceland project participant schools with a three-year action research cycle and funding of $5,000 per school per annum from fall of 2022 to spring of 2025.
11. Approved the name of one teacher for nomination to the Association administrator instructor name bank.
12. Appointed Council members to the Interpretation Committee Under Collective Agreement and the Subcommittee on PEC Member Orientation.
13. Approved the draft Association calendar for 2022/23 and provisionally approved for finalization by staff the draft Association calendars for 2023/24 and 2024/25.
14. Rescheduled the 2022 and 2023 student local conferences to the weekends of Sept. 23 and 24, 2022 and Sept. 22 and 23, 2023, respectively. ❚
