Alberta Sovereignty Act Introduced in Legislature, Bill Will Be ‘Constitutional Shield,’ Says Premier

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at a press conference after members of her cabinet were sworn in, in Edmonton on Oct. 24, 2022. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)

EDMONTON—In the legislature Tuesday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith officially introduced the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, new legislation the government says is “designed to be a constitutional shield to protect Albertans from unconstitutional federal laws and policies that harm our province’s economy, or violate Alberta’s provincial rights.”

The opposition promptly moved to force what the House speaker called an “unconventional” division during a throne speech, forcing a 15-minute recess and then a recount. Each individual in favour or against stood to be counted as a yay or nay. With the recount 55 in favour of and 22 against the legislation passing first reading, the motion was passed. The legislature reconvenes Nov. 30.

In delivering the throne speech, Lt. Gov. Salma Lakhani said, “Ottawa is not our ruler; Ottawa is our partner—and it needs to begin acting like it.”

She spoke about Albertans having individual and provincial rights, including “freedoms of speech and religion, liberty, equality, the rights of First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples, the right of provinces to deliver healthcare, education and social programs free from federal interference and, of course, the rights of all provinces to develop our natural resources for the benefit of our people.”

Jurisdiction

Lakhani said these rights “are not something the federal government can simply supersede when it chooses.”

“Whether it be Ottawa restricting the use of fertilizer by our farmers, or attempting to prevent us from developing the very energy resources that power our provincial and national economies; whether it be persecuting owners of legal firearms, inappropriately invoking emergency powers, or intentionally interfering in the delivery of provincial healthcare, education or child care, the government will not enforce any unconstitutional federal measure or policy within the boundaries of Alberta going forward,” she said.

In a statement released after the speech, the government said it plans to use the new act, if passed, to stand up to federal government overreach and interference in areas of provincial jurisdiction, including in the areas of private property, natural resources, agriculture, firearms, regulation of the economy and delivery of heath, education and other social programs.

Smith said the act was devised to be “respectful of court decisions and indigenous and treaty rights.” She said the act “will not compel any private citizen or business to violate federal law, nor does this legislation involve anything related to separation from Canada.”

Alberta Rights

Smith has told ministers to prepare resolutions by the spring legislature sitting to assert Albertans’ rights against the federal government in several areas that the province considers within their jurisdiction, including firearms, energy, private property, agriculture, regulation of the economy, delivery of health, education and other social programs, natural resources, and COVID health-care decisions.

The government has stated the act would only be triggered when Alberta’s legislative assembly debates and passes a motion that identifies a specific federal program or piece of legislation as unconstitutional or causing harm to Albertans.

Federal laws or policies impacting any of the following areas could be subject to Alberta pushing back:

• Attempts to regulate and control Alberta’s natural resources and economic development (i.e., Bill C-69)
• Attempts to penalize the province’s energy and agricultural sectors, including implementation of mandatory fertilizer cuts and arbitrary emissions reductions that would devastate Alberta’s economy
• Attempts to control the delivery of health care, education, and other social programs with strings-attached funding
• Attempts to confiscate legally owned firearms
• Attempts to interfere with the private property or charter rights of Albertans
• Other attempts to violate other sovereign areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction

In an information sheet about the act, the government lays out the way the act will be used and implemented. It says the act will enforce the Constitution’s division of powers, and provide authority to direct provincial entities to not enforce specific federal laws or policies with provincial resources.

The act will “shift the burden to the federal government to legally challenge Alberta’s refusal to enforce unconstitutional or harmful federal laws or polices instead of Alberta having to initiate legal challenges and waiting years for a decision.”

Government MLAs have been given a free vote on any proposed resolutions to use the act. One example of how the act could be used is to push back in the case of “improper or abusive use of the federal Emergencies Act against the rights of Albertans.”

The government maintains the act asserts provincial jurisdiction “already found in the Constitution” and as such is likely “to be found constitutional if challenged.”

“The constitutionality of each resolution brought under the act will have to be carefully drafted and reviewed on a case-by-case basis to ensure the resolutions are constitutionally defensible,” said the statement.