A video showing a heated exchange during a teachers’ support gathering in downtown Airdrie on Tuesday morning prompted a police response, RCMP confirmed. Video submitted to DiscoverAirdrie shows part of the confrontation near the veterans' crosswalk at First Avenue and Bowers Street at 9:21 a.m. The video has also circulated on local social media groups. Editor’s note: DiscoverAirdrie is publishing a short excerpt of the incident to illustrate the confrontation. The individual’s face has been blurred for privacy. The full, unedited video contains strong language that has been excluded from this excerpt. Airdrie RCMP spokesperson A/Cpl Jessica Hawkins said in an email, “I have spoken to our detachment commander he confirmed members attended and addressed the incident.” RCMP did not provide further details on any file number, follow-up or potential charges. The incident happened at the corner where residents and educators have gathered each school day from 9 to 10 a.m. for Coffee on the Corner, a community meet-up supporting Alberta teachers before the province ordered them back to work. Airdrie resident and teacher Sarah Batchelor said the group had gathered at about 9 a.m. when a man stopped to speak with them and the exchange became heated. “I realized pretty quickly that this was not just going to be a conversation,” she said. “He was quite hostile, and for the safety of everybody we better just record so we have a record of what happened.” Police were called as the group urged the man to leave, Batchelor said, adding officers arrived about five minutes after he walked away. “There was a little girl there, and when he started screaming obscenities, we were like, yeah, we’re done with this,” she said. The responding officer was “grateful that we had video” and told the group to call 9-1-1 if the man returned, she said. Concerns over public discourse Batchelor said Tuesday’s confrontation reflects a broader loss of civility in public debate. “Absolutely,” she said when asked if people have lost the ability to disagree respectfully. “That’s a divide that’s been growing since COVID — not because of COVID so much as the fact that when everyone went into their own bubbles, our social-media algorithms have only been supporting us with our own viewpoints. It’s very polarizing.” “When you’re surrounded by only your own opinion and algorithm, you honestly feel supported in your view — which you should — but it emboldens people,” she said. “I’ve seen more of it off the internet in the last six weeks than I have in my life.” Batchelor said she experienced a similar verbal confrontation at the Alberta Legislature earlier in the strike. “People are pretty brazen — not just on the internet,” she said. Context and reflection Batchelor, who was teaching during the 2002 teachers’ strike, said deeper issues in education policy have persisted for decades. “There was a whole thing that came afterwards with all these recommendations. Nobody has implemented any of them,” she said. “All of these panels are suggesting — they already have the research. It’s been done.” She said she worries that turning the current dispute into a partisan fight misses the point. “We’ve really made it up against the UCP, and it’s bigger than that,” Batchelor said. “Whichever government comes in next, this has been a long-term problem.” Batchelor added that everyone — including the man seen in the video — deserves the right to express an opinion peacefully. “Everybody should have the right to protest and say their piece — this gentleman included,” she said. “While I don’t agree with the way that he handled things, I still support his right to say what he has to say.” The confrontation came as tensions rose province-wide over the government’s decision to end the teachers’ strike by law. Legislative background The gathering took place hours after the provincial government passed the Back to School Act, a law ending the teachers’ strike and legislating new collective agreements between the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association and the Alberta Teachers’ Association. According to section 2 of the Act, “the purpose of this Act is to end the strike by the employees that started on Oct. 6 and lockout by the TEBA that started on Oct. 9 … by establishing the central terms and local terms of new collective agreements under this Act.” Section 3 applies the notwithstanding clause to override portions of the Charter, Alberta Bill of Rights and Human Rights Act. Section 6 sets a new collective agreement retroactive to Sept. 1, 2024, expiring Aug. 31, 2028. Sections 7–9 end all strikes and lockouts. Section 10 sets fines up to $500,000 for organizations, and Section 14 bars any civil or Charter-based claims for damages. Reactions In an Oct. 27 government release prior to the bill passing, Premier Danielle Smith said, “This strike has gone on long enough. It’s clear there’s no path forward unless we act. The Back to School Act refocuses everyone on what matters most — the education of Alberta’s students.” Finance Minister Nate Horner added, “The time for labour stability is now … If the Back to School Act is passed, it is my hope that classes will resume as soon as Wednesday, October 29.” Justice Minister Mickey Amery called use of the notwithstanding clause “a necessary measure to end the undue hardship caused by the teacher strike.” Smith reiterated that position the next day on X, writing, “With the passing of the Back to School Act, Alberta students will return to class on October 29, ending disruption for families and putting the focus back where it belongs: on students.” With the passing of Bill 2, the Back to School Act, Alberta students will return to class on October 29, ending disruption for families and putting the focus back where it belongs: on students. Teachers have made it clear that classroom complexity and safety are among the most… pic.twitter.com/QOuVRWWRXx — Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) October 28, 2025 In an Oct. 28 statement, the Alberta Teachers’ Association said teachers had been “ordered back to work and stripped of their charter rights when the Government of Alberta invoked the notwithstanding clause.” ATA president Jason Schilling said, “Teachers are being forced back and saddled with the very collective agreement that 90 per cent of them rejected only a month ago — an agreement that they said, loudly and clearly, does not meet the needs of their students, their classrooms or their profession.” “Teachers will comply with the law, but make no mistake — compliance is not consent,” Schilling said. “The Association will fight this abuse of power with every tool the law provides and every ounce of conviction we possess.” The ATA said the government may have ended the strike, “but it has not ended the crisis in classrooms across the province.” In an Oct. 28 statement to its website, Amnesty International Canada, stated it condemns the Alberta government’s use of the notwithstanding clause in Bill 2. Secretary General Ketty Nivyabandi said, “Alberta’s use of the notwithstanding clause continues an alarming trend of provincial governments putting political expediency ahead of people’s human rights. … We urge the Alberta government … to only advance legislation that complies with the Charter and upholds Albertans’ human rights.” Nivyabandi said, “By targeting teachers, the Government of Alberta is attempting to silence workers exercising their rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of association, and the right to strike. An attack on their rights is an attack on us all.” She added, “We stand in solidarity with the teachers of Alberta and support your right to strike. By organizing to improve your working conditions, you have set an example for the rest of Canada.” Independent MLA Peter Guthrie (Airdrie–Cochrane) also criticized the government’s use of the clause both in the Legislature and in a Facebook post published Oct. 28. “Teachers didn’t choose this fight,” Guthrie told the Assembly. “They were pushed into it by overcrowded classrooms, unsupported students, and by a government that treats education as a political arena instead of a trusted institution. This isn’t a contract dispute, it’s a leadership failure.” “What the UCP are preparing around the notwithstanding clause represents something remarkable,” he said. “Rather than preserve democratic balance, they are creating space for the UCP government to override inherent Charter rights whenever they are seen as obstacles to their political objectives.” He said legislating teachers back “doesn’t reduce class sizes … or hire a single new EA. What it does is impose compliance and call it a solution.” In his Facebook post, Guthrie wrote that the clause “was added to Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 as a narrow safeguard, not a political weapon,” and that by invoking it to force teachers back to work, “the government chose control over collaboration.” “Teachers deserve respect and dialogue, not coercion,” he wrote. “By normalizing the notwithstanding clause as a political tool, this Wildrose government weakens protections that belong to every Albertan — not just today, but for generations.” Local division response In an Oct. 28 update, Rocky View Schools stated: “The provincial government has passed the Back to School Act, which will order teachers back into the classroom starting Oct. 29. Rocky View Schools (RVS) is preparing to reopen all schools and learning facilities and to resume classes and regular bus routes on that date.” “Our priority is ensuring a smooth transition for students as they return to class,” the division said. “Principals and school employees will share school-specific information as details are confirmed.” RVS said it remains committed to keeping families informed as schools reopen Wednesday and asked for patience “as our dedicated employees focus on welcoming students back and supporting them through this transition.” Sign up to get the latest local news headlines delivered directly to your inbox every afternoon. Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@discoverairdrie.com. You can also message and follow us on Twitter: @AIR1061FM. 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