AB Premier Appoints MLA Tracy Allard as Parliamentary Secretary for Civil Liberties

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, along with cabinet ministers, speaks at a press conference after members were sworn into cabinet in Edmonton on Oct. 24, 2022. Jason Franson/The Canadian Press

EDMONTON—Alberta cabinet Grand Prairie MLA Tracy Allard has been appointed the province’s parliamentary secretary for civil liberties, a new position that the premier said would advise to cabinet on how property and civil rights can be addressed in legislation.

Danielle Smith discussed the new position on Dec. 17 during her weekly Saturday radio show, saying it became clear during the passage of Bill 3, an adverse possession law that will abolish squatters’ rights, that the position was needed “to do more to protect private property rights.”

“There’s a whole range of things that came up in this fall session and it seemed to me having a parliamentary secretary focused on property and civil rights would allow for her to give us some advice on how we might be able to address these in legislation,” Smith said on her radio show, Your Province, Your Premier.

Smith said there are concerns from Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides about campus free speech and whether legislation needs to go further to protect free speech rights at post-secondary institutions.