The job actions, which come alongside strikes by other teachers’ unions across the province, reflect a new breaking point in relations between public educators and the Progressive Conservative government of Ontario, led by Premier Doug Ford.

Archbishop Richard Gagnon, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, reiterated church opposition to government-sanctioned suicide while slamming the idea that a survey is the way to address "grave moral questions."

The bishops said they welcomed the minister's willingness to revise and enrich the content of the program, on the condition that "this will not be done to the detriment of the notions of religious culture."

The Edmonton victims were of Iranian descent, and their lives were recalled by family and friends at the memorial, which included Persian poetry and song.

This year marks an opportunity for Canadian Protestants to remember a time when they were deeply embedded in the labor movement. It also marks a labor anniversary important for Catholics in Canada. In 1949, miners walked off the job in dangerous asbestos mines in Quebec.

The story sparked outrage in some Canadian Catholic circles.