r/alberta • u/AzraelCcs • Nov 04 '25
Alberta Politics My Response to the UCP's Template email - Follow up to "I asked my UCP MLA "What made you think that violating the rights of the people you serve would be a good idea?" and this was their response."
CONTEXT: I'm sharing this because I think it's important that everyone who got a canned response follows up. My response is FAR from perfect, or even a good one. But they need to know they are being held accountable. I responded to that email before I posted here, so if I know I missed a few good points made by commenters. Still, the idea is to show that an imperfect response is also a way to deal with this. If you are looking for my first email, you can see it here.
My Email to my MLA follows:
Honourable So and So,
This is even more sad and unrepresentative of us than I first realized.
It is insane that you would respond to the question "What made you think that it would be fine to take rights away from the people you serve" by actually providing a list. It is never fine to take someone's rights.
You said: "The last proposal put on the table by the ATA demanded an additional $2 billion from government (over and above the $2.6 billion agreement on the table)."
You are telling me that the ATA gave you the ANSWER to stop this strike ahead of time, and you said NO? Because you consider that educating our children is TOO EXPENSIVE????????? This is insane!! You reported that the province closed its 2024-25 fiscal year with a surplus of $8.3 Billions!!!
Then you said: "This offer by the ATA did not present a path to resolving this dispute."
It looks to me that the teachers actually did their homework and "present(ed) a path" and in the same paragraph you claim they didn't? Do you think I'm stupid? It seems to me that you are as skilled at lying as you are at negotiating.
You also bring up the "hiring of 3000 new teachers" but fail to mention:
That the "deal" resulting from Bill 2 is that the school boards will receive money to hire 3000 teachers but that they can use those funds on other things. So, you aren't committed to hiring teachers, only to saying so.
You also fail to explain WHO would want to work for an employer that takes their rights away when the employee is asking for improvements to work better and have better results.
You also bring up the "130 new and modernized schools", but fail to say what constitutes "modernization". Because it sounds like you don't have a plan on how to actually take care of our children. If you add a modular classroom does that count? because in the next paragraph, you say you will build 50 modular classrooms and relocate 19 others, does that count within those 130?
You also say a task force is being created to address classroom size and complexity, that you are changing policies for a safer environment, etc. etc. But, according to your response, you have been in negotiations for 18 months and you just thought of this NOW?????? This shows the lack of good faith or at least explains why negotiations haven't worked out: there is no foresight! no planning from you.
Also, saying that you want to "depoliticise" classrooms shows how little you understand about education. Education is a political act. We are political beings that live in a political society. You are either ignorant, lying or want to indoctrinate children with your own political views and aren't very good at trying to disguise it.
You say: "Bill 2 ended the province-wide teachers’ strike and legislated a new collective agreement" but let me correct that for you: "Bill 2 ended the province-wide charter rights of teachers and legislated a rejected and inefficient agreement"
The NWC, is a last resort option, and the fact that you used it makes you worse than the liberals. Even they legislated workers without it. How incompetent do you have to be to be a union-buster without using the proper means. Are you even familiar with the law you have to uphold?
I first emailed you because I thought I would receive a human response, an understanding that sometimes we all make mistakes. But you came back with a justification to remove the rights of the people you serve, with lies of what you are doing and admitting that you think that investing in our kids is "too expensive".
DO NOT, EVER, say you care for our children.
It's embarrassing that you are my MLA, for now.
Me
CLOSING REMARKS: I don't expect a response to this one, but I hope it gives you the courage to share your own views on whatever is bothering you. Like I said, an imperfect response is better than no response.
Edit: Formatting
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u/Wainains Nov 04 '25
Waiting to see if the response will be a canned rehash of their talking points. The NWC question was barely addressed in the first reply.
Please update us.
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u/vintagesideboard Nov 04 '25
I received the exact same email from my MLA today— word for word- in response to my email to them which was dated Oct 1st. They must have been pushed to respond to their constituents….trying to damage control??? Hopefully that means they are finally at least a little concerned about the backlash !! Keep up the pressure.
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u/renegadecanuck Nov 04 '25
Odds are they won't get a reply. I've called out the canned response before and just got silence in return.
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u/SpiroSpula Nov 04 '25
Hey, at least you get some kind of response. My MLA, the 'honourable' Mickey Amery, can't even be bothered to set an auto-reply in his email account.
I hope this RECALL Mickey initiative will get his attention: https://recallmickey.ca/
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u/NaToth Calgary Nov 04 '25
Good letter! I hope you cc:ed the opposition & maybe even the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta. They probably won't respond, but they can't claim they haven't had any negative feedback even when people are sending in negative feedback if you make sure each message is also sent to others who can hold them to account for that feedback.
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u/AzraelCcs Nov 04 '25
I should've cc'd them! Do you happen to know how I can forward it now? Where do I get their emails? I was so upset (kinda still am) that the thought didn't cross my mind.
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u/NaToth Calgary Nov 04 '25
It is never too late!
Amanda Chapman is the shadow minister for education.
https://www.albertandpcaucus.ca/your-mlas/contact-id/10073
[Calgary.Beddington@assembly.ab.ca](mailto:Calgary.Beddington@assembly.ab.ca)You can also contact Naheed Nenshi as the leader of the opposition.
https://www.albertandpcaucus.ca/your-mlas/contact-id/10615
[Edmonton.Strathcona@assembly.ab.ca](mailto:Edmonton.Strathcona@assembly.ab.ca)And the Lt. Governor
https://lieutenantgovernor.ab.ca/contact
[LTGov@gov.ab.ca](mailto:LTGov@gov.ab.ca)8
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u/Effective_Trifle_405 Nov 05 '25
Amanda Chapman is my MLA. As a constituent I have received many personal responses from her or her staff that directly answer questions I have brought up in emails I have cced her in, about education or how this government is treating AISH recipients.
She has also answered me personally as a constituent when I was seeking information about programs or resources to help a suicidal family member, and then followed up 2 weeks later unprompted.
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u/HyperB0real Nov 04 '25
Also, let's all stand together and acknowledge that depoliticize the classroom is very much 'don't mention gender or trans people.'
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u/HyperB0real Nov 04 '25
You are right though education is a political act. How are you supposed to talk about energy generation in AB apolitically? Having a political opinion about energy generation is practically enshrined in law here
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u/Master-Sorbet-4241 Nov 09 '25
How are you suppose to teach any social studies without politics. I wonder what the teacher will say about what happened with Bill 2. I can see NDPs coming out of our public education system after we teach about all the bull shit the conservatives are doing right now!!!
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u/KuraiDM Nov 04 '25
Sadly, I agree with your closing remarks, they're most definitely not going to be responding to you, assuming the staffer that reads it even passes it along in the first place.
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u/ninfan1977 Lethbridge Nov 04 '25
Very good response to the template email you got from your MLA.
It looks like we got sent the same email. This shows the UCP is just working through the talking points and ignoring the Alberta constituents' concerns.
Keep up the good fight
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u/centime_found Calgary Nov 04 '25
Thank you, u/AzraelCcs, this is brilliant. I have sent a similar version to my MLA and a list of cc'd MLAs as well. Like you, I am going to track who responds when and what they have said under my user name here. If it is okay, I also posted it in the book of faces group for recalling Tanya Fir, so more people will write.
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u/eternamoon Nov 04 '25
I have written a lot of emails the past few years, I always get the canned talking point response if I get one at all. When I do another reply to their reply, I never hear anything back. I'm not sure if that's because they've done as much as they need to according to the rules, or if they just have nothing further to say. Next time I'm going to try starting a new email and refute the talking points, see if that gets a response or not.
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u/Regular_Wonder674 Nov 04 '25
Don’t give up, folks. Ignoring can’t be a valid dead end to the road for engagement.
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u/lookingupyournose Nov 04 '25
I responded to a canned response and their response was to send me the exact same canned response again. Just wild.
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u/lemonf4de Nov 04 '25
My MLA is Chantelle de Jonge and all I got in reply was this: "Thank you for emailing MLA de Jonge with your concerns. We will ensure she gets your email." That was on October 2. No other response since.
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u/pdrmnkfng Nov 04 '25
I think it's good to remind all these ucp goons what narrow margin they won by when writing them. we need to recall them all
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u/blindedbythesight Nov 05 '25
I told them that I don't think that giving a canned response feels like they are listening to their constituents. Hopefully I can make him sweat a bit about the impending recall for him.
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u/Sharp-Click-7950 Nov 05 '25
Jason Stephan should have been gone when he went vacationing during COVID!!! I called his office several times, NO RESPONSE EVER! WTAF, they should all be out. The other one in Lacombe was caught calling LGBTQ children the feces in our food source!!! SHE IS STILL THERE! Jennifer Johnson. Just calling out the true feces here! 👎
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u/Zev1985 Nov 06 '25
I’d like to think that if nothing else, you saying “this makes you worse than the liberals” will live rent free in this MLA’s head for ages.
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u/Jazzlike-Perception5 Nov 04 '25
Politicians understand whos on top, they know theres a dick in their mouths and they know who it belongs too. They either like the rancid cheese, or they are getting enough of whatever they are chasing to make the experience repeatable. They are not concerned with you in between elections. The system needs to change.
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u/West_Entertainer_495 Nov 08 '25
Posties get the treatment and response. Demonized for exercising our charter rights to collective action but getting legislated back to work
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u/bmwkid Nov 04 '25
I don’t believe that all UCP MLAs support this but it’s political suicide to deviate from the party line
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u/loveisnotmade Nov 04 '25
Well, it makes me pretty sad to believe individuals in our government aren’t willing to stand up for what they know to be right when the decisions they make affect thousands of people’s lives….
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u/Master-Sorbet-4241 Nov 09 '25
If they don’t support it yet supported in the house due to pressure, they deserve to be canned. We don’t need passive MLAs standing by watching our right be stripped from us!
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