Education Budget Cuts and Legislative Restrictions in 2019
October 28, 2025•460 words
"Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt." - PM, Pierre Trudeau
The "twitch and grunt" represents the impact of the U.S. (Trump's) actions on Canada, regardless of whether they are intentional, unintentional, or friendly. From the onset of Donald Trump being in office from 2017 to 2021, such extreme conservatism has affected Alberta politics tremendously.
Looking back on 2019, many Albertans would say there was a vigorous 180-turn on the educational system by the newly elected government of that year and it drastically altered the nature of education. With cuts of about $100 million, their first budget dealt a devastating blow almost immediately. This was a 3% cut that reduced education spending from $8.2 billion to $8.1 billion. Class sizes exploded to breaking points, with some elementary classrooms packed over 30 children in spaces never intended to accommodate that many, and programs that teachers and students had depended began to reduce.
Teachers' capacity to assist their students was changed by the government's social agenda. By removing the requirement that principals approve Gay-Straight Alliances and renaming these essential support groups as generic "student clubs," Bill 8 changed important safeguards for LGBTQ+ youth and increased parental opt-out powers. For educators who had put a lot of effort into creating inclusive, safe environments for students who were at risk, this change removed safeguards, increased bureaucracy, and encouraged uncertainty. The underlying message was clear, schools' work assisting marginalized students as a problem to be managed rather than a service to be safeguarded if it was politically controversial.
By giving parents an effective veto over curriculum content pertaining to gender identity and sexuality education, Bill 24 continued this pattern of change. Instead of concentrating on educational best practices from university researchers throughout North America and Europe, teachers had to deal with the threat of school district backlash and parent complaints, making every lesson plan a potential minefield.
At the same time, the Alberta Teachers' Association was marginalized when the government took over the Teachers' Retirement Fund board unilaterally, packing it with political appointees, very different compared to other provinces in which it was a shared responsibility with teacher unions and government involvement. There was a strong sense that teachers financial futures were being held in check by political dictates, educators had faithfully contributed to their pensions for several decades, felt abruptly left with no say in how their retirement funds were managed. Luckily, AIMCo (Alberta Investment Management Corporation) a provincial Crown corporation managing the retirement funds continue to have solid returns, similar to other provincial retirement management returns.
https://www.thenonprofitchamber.org/blog-news/alberta-legislative-round-up
https://x.com/MrDemeule/status/1201323236564168704
https://globalnews.ca/news/7573976/ucp-order-teacher-pension-management/
https://albertaviews.ca/the-120-question/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-teachers-pension-1.5889265
https://teachers.ab.ca/news/ataatrf-statements-removal-aimco-board