What is the TPA and why does it matter?

Question: I’ve heard ATA leadership refer to the “TPA.” What is the TPA and why does it matter to teachers? 

Answer: The TPA or Teaching Profession Act is a foundational piece of legislation, originally passed in 1935, that recognized teaching as a profession and established the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) as the organization responsible for representing certificated teachers in the province. 

The TPA functions as the constitution of the ATA, setting out the core objects of the Association. These objects mandate the Association to 

• advance and promote education by actively supporting the cause of education in the province of Alberta;
• improve the teaching profession by promoting quality teacher education, providing professional development, improving professional working conditions (including compensation) and assisting members in the performance of their duties;
• arouse public interest by increasing public knowledge and interest in educational affairs, including the aims and value of public education and the need for adequate financial support for schooling; and
• cooperate with other organizations and work with other bodies in Canada and abroad that share similar objectives. 

I’ll note that when the TPA was originally passed, it also empowered the Association to police the conduct and, later, the competence of members. The Association resolutely performed this function until, in 2020, it was stripped away by then-Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and the United Conservative government of then-Premier Jason Kenney. As a consequence of this unilateral and entirely unjustifiable decision, the regulation of teachers was taken away from the profession and handed over to the Alberta Teaching Profession Commission. 

In addition to establishing the objects of the Association, the TPA also sets out mandatory, active membership in the Association for all certificated teachers (including principals and other school leaders) employed by the province’s public, separate and francophone school authorities. Only certificated teachers working as superintendents, deputy superintendents or in nonteaching central office roles are exempt from having to maintain active membership. To use “union” language, this establishes the Association as a “closed shop.” 

Finally, the TPA sets out the fundamental organizational structure and processes of the Association. For example, it establishes the representative assembly, provincial executive council and, for yours truly, the office of the executive secretary, defining the respective roles and authority of each in the governance and administration of the organization. 

Having the Association established by legislation is not unusual; in fact, it’s typical of professional organizations in Alberta. It is, however, a mixed blessing because the government, as we saw with respect to the loss of the ATA’s professional regulatory function, can act unilaterally to amend the statute. 

I also want to make an important historical point here: the establishment of the Association by the TPA was not a gift given to teachers by the government. Instead, it was the product of almost two decades of organizing by teachers across Alberta led by the founders of the Alberta Teachers’ Alliance. 

The TPA was originally passed by the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) government in 1935 and amended in 1936 by the new Social Credit government of William Aberhart to add the provision for mandatory membership. Immediately before Aberhart became premier, he had been the principal of Crescent Heights High School in Calgary, but, along with a number of his colleagues, had been fired from his position by the Calgary Board of Education. Some have been tempted to suggest that the Association was created in a top-down fashion by a teacher turned premier. This is an ahistorical misrepresentation and disrespects the enormous grassroots efforts of teacher leaders, most notably union organizer John Barnett, who drove his Nash Dart on dirt roads between schools all over the province, signing up teachers to join and then maintain their membership in the nascent Alberta Teachers’ Alliance, originally organized in 1917. It also ignores the growing depression-era conflicts between employer boards and teachers that had alarmed the province’s politicians, leading both the UFA and Social Credit governments to support the passage of legislation that would bring greater stability to the education system. 

In understanding the origins and fundamental purpose of the TPA, one should remember that for teachers, the act was and remains, however imperfectly, the product and means of confirming teachers’ professionalism and agency. 

Questions for consideration in this ­column are welcome. Please address them to Dennis Theobald at dennis.theobald@ata.ab.ca.