Alberta Premier Smith Going Into UCP Convention With Key Legislation and Policies

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith addresses UCP members at their annual general meeting in Red Deer, Alta., on Nov. 2, 2024. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and United Conservative Party members will meet at the party’s annual meeting from Nov. 28 to 30, following the introduction of several key policies and pieces of legislation, many of them in the past few weeks.

Among the measures her government took this year, besides the signing of an agreement with Ottawa on Nov. 27 for a potential Alberta-B.C. pipeline, were using the notwithstanding clause to shield three laws on parental consent and gender transition for minors; limiting the power of regulatory bodies over members’ actions; exempting the province from international agreements adopted by Ottawa; and enabling involuntary treatment in cases of severe substance addiction.

The annual meeting comes as Ottawa and Alberta prepare to finalize a deal on energy policies and a potential pipeline to the B.C. coast—a project Alberta has long advocated for. At the same time, this year has seen the emergence of an independence movement in Alberta, with a portion of UCP supporters backing the idea.

Unlike last year, Smith will not face a leadership review, although she will hear about a new set of priorities from party members through policy resolutions. While the resolutions are not binding, they can influence the party’s future direction. At last year’s annual general meeting, Smith secured 91.5 percent approval in a leadership review.

Gender Transition for Minors, Parental Consent

Last week, the province announced it would use the notwithstanding clause of the Charter to protect three pieces of legislation on gender issues from legal challenges.

Bill 9, tabled on Nov. 18, would invoke the notwithstanding clause to uphold Bill 26, which prohibits gender-transition surgery for anyone under 18; Bill 27, which mandates parental consent for pronoun or name changes at school and creates an opt-in system for lessons on gender identity and related topics; and Bill 29, which limits female sports categories to those born biologically female.

Bill 26 and Bill 27, which have already been passed into law, are currently facing legal challenges by LGBT groups. As of publication time, Bill 9 had not been passed into law.

At last year’s annual meeting, members passed a policy resolution calling on the UCP to support legislation recognizing parents’ “ultimate responsibility” over a child’s health, education, and welfare.

They also passed a resolution asking the province to adopt an opt-in model for sexual education in classrooms and to require any third-party related materials be approved in advance by the ministry of education, measures that were ultimately included in Bill 27.

Alberta–Ottawa Deal

Premier Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Nov. 27 that would allow the construction of an oil pipeline from Alberta to B.C. if a private proponent comes forward. The deal also removes certain Trudeau-era energy policies that Smith had opposed, in exchange for Alberta committing to some emission-reduction measures.

Smith said the agreement means seven of the “nine bad laws” she had outlined have now been removed or changed.

The MOU allows a carve-out from the northern B.C. coastal tanker ban, permitting oil from a future Alberta–B.C. pipeline to be shipped to Asian markets. Alberta is additionally exempted from the Clean Electricity Regulations, which imposes net-zero targets on the electricity grid. The agreement also removes the oil and gas emissions cap, which Alberta had said effectively limits production.

The MOU also calls for a “cooperation agreement” on the Impact Assessment Act, formerly known as Bill C-69, which Alberta has called the “no more pipelines act” due to its regulatory requirements for major projects.

Other items include lifting federal restrictions on energy companies’ environmental advertising, giving Alberta oversight of its industrial carbon tax, and Ottawa working with the province to remove restrictions on the path of exporting the province’s oil and gas.

On the remaining federal laws Alberta opposes—the single-use plastics ban and the EV sales mandate—Smith said she hopes the plastics ban will be resolved through Alberta’s court challenge, while the EV mandate will likely need major changes or elimination, noting Ottawa’s delaying of the mandate signals doubts about its feasibility.

In exchange for Ottawa’s changes to its energy policies, Alberta has agreed that the construction of the proposed Alberta–B.C. pipeline will be tied to the development of the Pathways Alliance carbon capture project to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The province has also agreed to increase the industrial carbon tax and committed to reduce methane emissions in the energy sector by 75 percent from 2014 levels by 2035.

Smith’s government and her UCP support base have long emphasized provincial jurisdiction, limiting federal overreach, and resource development in the province, which she says federal energy policies have hindered.

Following meetings with Prime Minister Mark Carney, Smith said in September she was optimistic her province’s concerns were “finally being heard” and an agreement benefitting provincial and federal interests will soon be reached. A deal would signal a shift in relations between the two levels of government, which have been at odds with each other for years.

One of this year’s policy resolutions calls for the province to “support, invest, and advocate” for oil and natural gas pipelines, including to the west, east, and north of Canada.

Meanwhile, Alberta’s separatist movement has gained support following the federal Liberals’ re-election this year, with representatives saying federal laws and policies over the past decade have harmed the province’s interests and suggesting Alberta could be better off as an independent nation.

An Angus Reid poll in May found 65 percent of those who voted for the UCP in Alberta’s last provincial election would support leaving the country, with 33 percent saying they would “definitely” vote to leave.

One of the proposed separation referendum questions, put forward by the sovereignty advocacy group Alberta Prosperity Project, is currently under legal review to determine its constitutionality. The question would ask Albertans: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta shall become a Sovereign Country and cease to be a province of Canada?”

‘Peterson Law’

Other provincial legislation introduced ahead of the annual meeting includes a bill to protect regulated professionals’ freedom of expression, as well as legislation to enable ongoing changes to the province’s health system.

Last week, the province tabled Bill 13, aimed at limiting the authority of regulatory bodies to discipline members for off-duty comments and behaviour. The bill is referred to as the “Peterson Law,” after Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, who faced sanctions from the College of Psychologists of Ontario for comments he made on social media.

The bill would restrict regulatory bodies from imposing mandatory training that the province says is unrelated to competence or ethics, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion training.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) came up at last year’s meeting, where members called on the province to move away from DEI models in public recruitment practices to base hiring on “merit alone.”

Health Care Restructuring

The province also introduced health-related amendments through Bill 11, tabled on Nov. 24. One of its key measures is a dual-practice model that would allow surgeons and surgical staff to work in both the public and private sectors, with the province saying the move will shorten wait times and improve access to care.

Other measures include further steps to restructure the province’s health care system into four specialized sectors, adding penalties for improper medical billing, and setting up a new process for renewing health cards.

International Agreements

In line with the UCP’s advocacy for greater provincial sovereignty, the Alberta government last month tabled Bill 1, which establishes that the province is not bound by agreements entered into by Ottawa when they involve matters under provincial jurisdiction. Such agreements would need to be debated and enacted into law by the province before they could be enforced.

Bill 1 received royal assent and came into force on Nov. 26.

Involuntary Treatment

Alberta earlier this year also became the first province to legislate involuntary treatment for substance addictions.

In May, the province passed the Compassionate Intervention Act, formerly Bill 53, allowing relatives, guardians, health care professionals, or police officers to request an addiction treatment order for people who are “likely to cause harm to themselves or others as a result of their addiction or substance use.”

The legislation was part of Smith’s 2023 election campaign to address the province’s addiction crisis.

Other issues that will be discussed at this year’s AGM include greater immigration authority for the province, limiting flags flown at government building, implementing measures related to bodily autonomy, and opposing Ottawa’s electric vehicle mandate.

The government isn’t obligated to implement policy resolutions passed by UCP members, but they reflect the will of the party’s grassroots.

Chandra Philip contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: This article was updated on Nov. 27.