EDMONTON - Premier Danielle Smith’s caucus worked into the wee hours of Tuesday morning to curtail debate and speedily pass a bill using the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to order 51,000 striking teachers back to work.

Smith’s United Conservatives, using their majority in the legislature and passing procedural rules to put one-hour limits on discussion, voted and passed the bill through three debate stages in six and a half hours, finishing at 2 a.m.

During debate, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides told the house the government faced an “undeniable moral imperative” to stop a three-week strike that was harming students’ social and educational development.

“This strike has moved beyond the state of inconvenience,” Nicolaides said.

Smith was not in the house for the introduction

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