‘This is his strike’: Rally held in Alberta education minister’s riding amid recall petition

Volunteers erect signs in the education minister's southwest Calgary riding calling for more education funding. Tyler Barrow explains.

A group of Albertans piled into a school bus from Edmonton to Calgary on Saturday morning looking to bolster support for teachers in the education minister’s riding while a recall petition goes on.

Those involved in the rally say their goal was to go door-knocking in Calgary-Bow, Demetrios Nicolaides’ constituency, and hand out signs in support of Alberta’s educators.

Calgarian Jennifer Yeremiy’s petition application to oust Nicolaides was approved on Thursday by Alberta’s chief electoral officer.

The recall petition requires 16,000 signatures from Calgary-Bow residents within three months.

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Public Interest Alberta’s executive director Bradley Lafortune says he was one of the rally’s organizers.

“This is really an opportunity for people to turn up the heat on the education minister. This is Danielle Smith’s strike. This is (Nicolaides’) strike,” Lafortune said.

“The idea is really to give people a chance to show their support for public education,” he said.

Yeremiy’s petition application cites province-wide teacher strikes amid overcrowded classrooms and understaffed schools as an indicator of Nicolaides being “unfit” to represent Calgary-Bow and the education ministry.

Once in Calgary, Lafortune told CTV News he was happy with the turnout of door-knockers, who were in the riding alongside those looking for recall petition signatures.

“Do I think that he should resign? Absolutely. Do I think he will? No,” he added. “But that’s why we’re taking matters into our own hands.”

“I want to go back to work,” said Tracy McNish, who teaches in Rocky View County, “but I want it to be worth it. I want there to be improvements when we go back into the classroom.”

Legislation looming

The province has said it intends to introduce legislation as early as Monday that would make teachers go back to classrooms without a new deal on the table.

“I owe everything to my teachers,” said Grade 11 student Quinn Bergman, who boarded the bus in Edmonton. “I’ve been taught so many valuable things, and I think it’s important to fight for them. I think they deserve better.”

“It’s very clear that the public is on the side of teachers and on the side of public education,” said Lafortune.

Nicolaides has said the recall process is being misused and should be kept for when members of Alberta’s legislative assembly act unethically or breach public trust.

With files from The Canadian Press, CTV News Calgary and CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall