Alberta sovereignty act would give cabinet unilateral powers to change laws
CBC
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's signature legislation would grant her cabinet new powers to bypass the legislative assembly and unilaterally amend provincial laws.
The measure is described in Bill 1, the Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act, introduced Tuesday in the provincial legislature.
The bill describes how the Alberta government plans to not enforce federal legislation, policies or programs it decides are "harmful" to Alberta's interests or infringe on the division of powers in the Constitution.
Smith said the bill was created to get Ottawa's attention after her two predecessors failed to get traction.
"I hope we never have to use this bill," Smith told reporters following the bill's introduction. "I hope that we've sent a message to Ottawa that we will vigorously defend our constitutional areas of jurisdiction and they should just butt out."
Smith introduced the idea for the bill last summer during the race to replace Jason Kenney as leader of the governing United Conservative Party.
Although the bill was criticized by most of her opponents in the leadership race, many UCP members embraced the idea of taking tangible action to push back against the federal government.
Smith became leader after winning on the sixth ballot Oct. 6. All but one of her opponents in the now race sit in her cabinet.
On Sept. 6, the Smith campaign released an overview of how the act would work. However, it did not mention the wider scope of powers granted to cabinet.
Under existing rules, cabinet has the power to make and change regulations through orders in council. Giving the power to unilaterally change legislation is normally allowed during emergency situations.
In April 2020, the Kenney government gave itself that power under Bill 10, the Public Health Emergency Powers Amendment Act, to keep public services operating in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government ended up repealing that law a year later after facing widespread public criticism and a constitutional challenge for giving itself too much power.
During a news conference following the bill's introduction, both Smith and Justice Minister Tyler Shandro denied that it would allow cabinet to change laws behind closed doors.
Shandro said that the measure was democratic because the legislative assembly would vote on a resolution before it went to cabinet.
