Money a key factor in using Charter override on teachers, 2 cabinet ministers say

Two Alberta cabinet ministers say money was a key factor in the United Conservative government’s decision to use the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to override teachers’ rights and shut down a provincewide strike.

Infrastructure Minister Martin Long, in a November letter to constituents, says the government could not risk allowing the labour dispute to go to arbitration and put the province at risk of paying out hundreds of millions of dollars.

“An arbitrator would likely have sought a middle ground between the two proposals, leaving taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of millions, potentially billions, in additional costs,” he wrote.

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides, asked Wednesday by reporters about Long’s letter and potential costs, said elected leaders, and not third partie