Universal access to publicly-funded healthcare is a source of national pride and a social policy that Canadians are willing to go to great lengths to defend. But are we equally prepared to stand up for our public education system? Recent events in Alberta put that question to the test. Last month, Danielle Smith’s UCP government invoked the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to order teachers back to work and impose on them a contract rejected by nearly 90% of Alberta teachers.
The Back to School Act is a direct assault on our fundamental rights and on the foundations of our democracy. The UCP hijacked the democratic process and forced the legislation through without any real debate. This kind of authoritarian behaviour is uncannily similar to how politics are currently being done in the United States
Alberta’s Back to School Act violates teachers’ rights to freedom of association and expression and jeopardizes the rights of all workers to collective bargaining. The UCP champions “freedom” when it suits their political narrative but strips it away from Alberta’s teachers without hesitation. An attack on teachers’ constitutional rights is an attack on the rights of every Albertan.
Alberta is a rich province, but we operate on a model of scarcity both in healthcare and in education. Over the past several years, provincial funding for schools has not kept pace with inflation or population growth. The results are poor learning environments for our children due to crowded classrooms, not enough teachers and inadequate infrastructure.
Alberta has the lowest funding rate for public school students among the provinces, yet subsidizes private schools with the highest funding rate – 70% of the amount for public school students. Increases in funding for private schools has outstripped increases to public school budgets, leading to tax dollars being diverted at the expense of public education. Ontario, by contrast, provides no public funding to private schools.
A single well-funded public system will do far more to support all children in Alberta, and families would not be forced to turn away from their neighbourhood school to seek out different learning environments for their children. Education like health is a public good. Free market theory with its emphasis on choice and competition cannot be applied to education any more than it can be to health. Providing public funding for charter and private schools to compete with public schools only undermines the efficiencies of a single high-performing system.
Public schools are an effective means of delivering education. Research from the United States shows that public schools outperform private schools when adjusted for socioeconomic status. Finland has the highest-ranking education system in the world and all schools in the country are publicly funded. Finnish schools are encouraged to co-operate and innovate together rather than compete with one another, leading to world class results.
Public schools recognize every child’s right to education and welcome every child. By accepting and valuing children from all backgrounds, public schools embrace and celebrate diversity. Students are best prepared for the real world by public school because live in a world where businesses thrive on employee diversity, and where complex political and social problems are solved by considering diverse perspectives in decision-making.
Public schools are a powerful way to reduce avoidable and unfair inequities in society. Being free and accessible to all, public schools reach and benefit everyone regardless of race, religion or socioeconomic status. Education is the great equalizer, reducing income inequities and breaking the cycle of poverty for the most disadvantaged. Decreasing inequity benefits rich and poor alike: more equal societies have less mental illness, fewer crimes, less substance use and more trust among strangers.
Albertans can act to defend this essential public institution. A Calgary teacher has applied to Elections Alberta to launch the Alberta Funds Public Schools petition, which needs 177,732 signatures by February 11, 2026, to trigger a referendum on ending public funding for private schools.
Teachers are standing up—for children, for fairness, and for the future of public education. We should stand with them. Albertans need to act: sign petitions and contact their MLAs to vigorously defend our public institutions and our democratic rights. Our government must hear clearly that we value every child’s right to quality public education and every person’s freedom and constitutional rights.
If we do not act now, we risk losing the very foundations of the Albertan way of life
Doctor Vamini Selvanandan© 2025.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license.
Dr. Vamini Selvanandan is a rural family physician and public health practitioner in Alberta.. For more articles like this, visit
www.engagedcitizen.ca.
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