The canary in the coal mine has died: Alberta is using the notwithstanding clause

The canary in the coal mine has died.

Danielle Smith's UCP has invoked the notwithstanding clause to remove the rights teachers are guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Alberta Human Rights Act, and the Alberta Bill of Rights.

This ends the strike, with teachers set to return to work on Wednesday.

Some previous attempts to use the notwithstanding clause in Alberta include some absolute bangers like:

denying Albertans who were forcibly sterilized by the government the right to sue
prohibiting same-sex marriage
and withholding medical care from trans kids.

So, pretty great company.

This is how

When we look down to the south and see the horror of families being ripped apart, citizens and non-citizens alike being abducted on the streets by unidentified masked men, and a judiciary directed for personal vengeance, not justice, it's easy to say, “How could they possibly have gone so far?”

Well, this is how.

It's leaders eyeing a red line and poking their toes just over.

It's standing by as collective rights are eroded to centralize power.

It's empowering demagogues and the insurrectionists they encourage.

We're frogs in the pot, and Danielle Smith is slowly turning up the heat.

We all want our kids back in school.

But if getting them there requires us ignoring everything we learned in social studies, then what's our education even for?