Petition Tabled in the Alberta Legislature

After an initial exchange of correspondence with the office of Alberta Advanced Education this past summer, communication stopped entirely. They did not respond to my request for a meeting with Myles McDougall, Minister of Advanced Education, nor did they offer any avenue for our petition to be presented to him.

In response, the NDP offered to formally acknowledge the issue and raise awareness among policymakers in Alberta by tabling our petition in the Legislative Assembly. On Thursday, November 6th, David Eggen, Shadow Minister for Advanced Education, tabled our petition during Question Period, officially placing our advocacy efforts to reverse the closure of ESL programming at Bow Valley College on the public record.

Mr. Eggen had prepared comments to accompany the tabling of the petition during Question Period, but there was ultimately no time, as the session was dominated by a number of other priority items before the Legislature. To help shape Mr. Eggen’s remarks, I prepared a commentary for him, which you can read in this Substack post.

While our petition and your efforts to write your MLAs did not compel the Alberta government to intervene, the advocacy initiative overall was very successful in bringing attention to the issue. Both Naheed Nenshi, leader of the Alberta NDP, and Peter Guthrie, leader of the Progressive Tory Party of Alberta, are now fully aware of the closure of the School of Global Access at Bow Valley College, and they understand the impact this has had on both job losses and on wait times for English language learners. In recent correspondence, the NDP stated that “the NDP remains committed to supporting ESL learning, and your efforts have helped keep this conversation alive.”

At the national level, a panel at a recent TESL Ontario conference including representation from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), offered transparency and clarity on their responses to funding changes. It was acknowledged that advanced federal programming could return in the future, and it was also implied that the federal government is aware of the hardships facing the immigrant‑serving sectors right now, that funding decisions are intentional, and that there is hope for improved investment in the future as immigration levels in Canada continue to recede.

If you would like to continue supporting advocacy for immigrants and refugees in Alberta and across Canada, you can join a new nationwide campaign called We’re Better Together, which is working to counter anti‑immigrant sentiment and rebuild support for newcomers. Both individuals and organizations can sign up — a full list of campaign partners can be found here.

My heartfelt thanks go out to you for sharing the petition, corresponding with politicians, and standing up for English language learners and the people who support them. As 2026 unfolds, we can expect Alberta’s political landscape to continue to evolve, creating real opportunities for individuals to help shape what comes next. Let’s continue the momentum and “keep this conversation alive” as we engage with policymakers and political parties. Every voice truly matters!

Many thanks,

Janice McCrimmon
Advocacy Coordinator, Stand Up for ESL