It acted like a thief in the night.

When the Alberta government announced what is surely the largest mass layoff in provincial history, it didn’t hold a news conference or even have one cabinet minister available to answer questions.

Instead, it slid the devastating news under the door — via a brief news communique on a Saturday afternoon.

And, in a further attempt to hide its actions before slinking off into the night, the government gave its news release the Orwellian headline, “K-12 education funding temporarily adjusted to match cost.”