Alberta used notwithstanding clause to avoid costly arbitration with teachers, infrastructure minister says

Alberta’s infrastructure minister says the reason the province invoked the notwithstanding clause to force teachers back to work rather than going to arbitration was due to cost.

A letter sent in November from Infrastructure Minister Martin Long’s office to constituents, which was circulating on X, said the reason why the nothwithstanding clause was used to end more than three weeks of job action by Alberta teachers was because arbitration would’ve cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Long wrote that an arbitrator would’ve “sought a middle ground” between the two proposals potentially resulting in millions — possibly billions — in additional costs.

In a statement sent Wednesday to Postmedia in response to the letter, Long said the decision to support the notwithstanding clause was not