Dear Friends in Christ,
Greetings. I have not issued many public letters in my ministry as Bishop. However, with the Provincial Government’s use of the Notwithstanding Clause to send teachers back to work this past week, I felt the need to write one. This was a significant decision that goes beyond normal politics. As a bishop, it is not my intention to become involved in partisan political debate. My concern is moral and spiritual. I write this letter today because with their use of the Notwithstanding Clause, the Alberta government has taken a step in suspending a fundamental freedom of our society, the freedom of association.
Our democratic rights and freedoms are central to our lives as Canadians. For instance, our right as Anglican Christians in Canada to gather peacefully and exercise our “freedom of conscience and religion” is enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This freedom, alongside the freedom of thought, the freedom of peaceful assembly, and the freedom of association, is a fundamental freedom in the Charter. Together, they are essential to us being able to call ourselves a free society.
The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized the right to strike as part of the Charter’s freedom of association. For the Provincial Government of Alberta to use the Notwithstanding Clause in sending the teachers back to work is to acknowledge interference with the teachers’ Charter Rights through this action. The deeper implications of this action are sobering because when one fundamental freedom is denied, it is possible to imagine other fundamental freedoms being denied, including our own “freedom of conscience and religion.” In a time when democratic institutions around the world are becoming fragile, I believe it would be wise to step back from this action.
In light of this, I call on the Premier of Alberta, the Honourable Danielle Smith, and the Legislature of Alberta to amend the Act to remove the Notwithstanding Clause and restore the fundamental freedom of the teachers of Alberta to bargain collectively.
In Christ,
Bishop Stephen London
Diocese of Edmonton