[Wolven]

Thank you to MBates for writing this. I think it is worth pinning for all to re-read and consider in this moment.

Originally Posted by MBates

In our office I have posted this Martin Luther King Jr. quote...on the fridge in the kitchen...where basically everyone sees it every day.

"You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be. And one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid…You refuse to do it because you want to live longer… You’re afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity, or you’re afraid that somebody will stab you, or shoot at you or bomb your house; so you refuse to take the stand.

Well, you may go on and live until you are 90, but you’re just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit. You died when you refused to stand up for right...You died when you refused to stand up for truth...You died when you refused to stand up for justice."

If my kid in grade 12 cannot graduate this year because the entire province goes on a general strike to protest this particular use of the notwithstanding clause then so be it.

Standing up to demand a government that will give greater respect to the concept of constitutionally protected rights and freedoms will be upsetting and take a measure of sacrifice from many...but I sure hope my kid is already the type of person who is willing to take such a speedbump in life to stand up against this form of unjust government overreach.

If we are really honest, this might be the one and only moment in a lifetime that a great many people will have the opportunity to stand up for something truly foundational to their free and democratic society. And as Remembrance Day is right around the corner, if teenagers and adults alike used to be able to traverse an ocean to take a post in a trench and literally put their lives on the line, the least any of us can do is risk some time and income to join a protest or help advance a recall petition or help fund a political party that will not do this to its citizens.

This teacher situation has now entered the phase where it is about a lot more than teachers or students or even the education system. It is impossible to comprehend how people who fashion themselves to be libertarians and supporters of a free and independent Alberta are also double-fisted cheering on a draconian government stomping on the throats of its citizens. I get that they think its funny because it is not currently their throats, it just remains baffling to me they cannot see why this is really bad and they should be standing up for the rights and freedoms of the teachers regardless of their political views.

If Albertan's stay silent and just let this one go, there will be the obvious and predicted further erosion of public schooling, but for those of you who seem to think that does not matter to you, I assure you there will also be more of this type of conduct to follow and it will get progressively worse and eventually apply to you or someone you love in a way you will hate. It is a giant step towards a grasp for absolute power and the absolute corruption that it begets. The people will either demand a reversal of course now or provide the permission structure for all future overreach.

At a bare minimum anyone who cares about this should be in the next 24 hours sending emails to your MLA and I would suggest at least all current Cabinet Ministers as well.

I wish I was just being dramatic. But this is happening while at the same time the Supreme Court of Canada is considering a reference case as to the legality of this type of preemptive use of the notwithstanding clause and Alberta will very likely be having a separatism referendum one way or another in the next year. Premier Smith and her government are purposefully provoking a constitutional crisis with this move. Whether you like it or not, this is a crisis you will have to deal with as a Canadian citizen and voter in the short-term. The time to be blissfully ignorant and comfortably on the sidelines has long passed.