LETHBRIDGE, AB: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the Alberta government to take all savings due to a potential teachers’ strike and redirect it to parents to cover childcare costs.

“Students and parents are the people who are hurt in a teachers’ strike and they’re the ones who need help,” said Kris Sims, Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “British Columbia compensated parents for their childcare costs during a teachers strike in 2014 and it helped thousands of families.

“When the government saves money due to teachers’ strike, that money should go to the people who need it: parents and children.”

The Alberta government was offering Alberta teachers a 12 per cent pay hike over four years. It also committed to hire 3,000 new teachers and 1,500 new classroom assistants.

If the union had accepted the government’s offer, the CBC reports the average Alberta teacher, at all pay levels, would have the highest after-tax income in Western Canada by 2027.

Alberta government schoolteachers received a pay hike of two per cent in 2023 and a 1.25 per cent increase the year previous.

This year, Alberta taxpayers are projected to spend $10.4 billion on K-12 education. The year before that, the bill for taxpayers was $9.2 billion. That’s a 13 per cent spending increase on K-12 education.

The province of Alberta is on track to have a $84.3 billion debt by the end of the year.

“Premier Danielle Smith must take taxpayers into account when negotiating contracts and here’s the reality: people can’t afford higher taxes and piling up more debt is irresponsible,” said Sims. “If the government saves money because the teachers’ union shuts down schools, it needs to redirect those savings to families who are hurt by the walk out.”
                                                                   
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