'The kind of leader I am': Smith accepts sovereignty act amendments from UCP caucus

Alberta's premier says she is OK with her caucus making changes to the sovereignty act bill she introduced last week, while the NDP argued it would be better to scrap it altogether.

Alberta's premier says she is OK with her caucus making changes to the sovereignty act bill she introduced last week, while the NDP argued it would be better to scrap it altogether.

On Monday, United Conservative Party MLAs voted to propose amendments to Bill 1, the Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act.

The changes would see unilateral powers granted to Danielle Smith and her cabinet removed from the bill and would limit the scope of when it can be used.

"She's lost people's trust with this bumbling and stumbling," NDP Leader Rachel Notley alleged during question period.

"My caucus identified some issues that they wanted to address. They wanted to seek some clarity," Smith said during her response. "And that's the kind of leader I am, I want to make sure we get this bill right and I'm grateful that my caucus is going to propose amendments."

Notley called the legislation "job killing" and she criticized Smith for how the act was written and introduced to Albertans.

For days after Smith introduced the bill, she and her cabinet members rejected accusations, including from legal and constitutional scholars, that the bill granted unchecked power.