Alberta’s UCP caucus announces amendments after critics condemned the bill as a power grab.
EDMONTON—The proposed Alberta Sovereignty Act may lose some of its teeth after Premier Danielle Smith was pilloried for trying to enact sweeping powers for cabinet ministers typically only seen during emergencies.to be able to amend legislation behind closed doors and without legislative oversight.
“This morning, Alberta’s United Conservative Caucus voted to propose amendments to Bill 1, the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, to clarify that any changes to existing Alberta statutes that are outlined in a resolution and introduced and passed by the Legislative Assembly under the Act, must also be introduced and passed separately through the regular Legislative Assembly process ,” a UCP caucus news release stated.
That was not to be the case under the first iteration of the bill, introduced by Smith last Tuesday. It has long been promised as her cornerstone piece of legislation to be used to fight back against federal incursions into provincial jurisdiction. The original bill said ministers could introduce motions into the legislation identifying a federal law or policy it deems unconstitutional or “harmful.” If the motion passed, cabinet could then, in line with the motion, start amending provincial laws to fight back against Ottawa, away from MLAs in the house.as being government overreach and a power grabIn its Monday news release, the UCP caucus also further clarified what “harmful” to Alberta could mean in the context of the act.
“The proposed amendments would also clarify that the harms addressed by the Act are limited to federal initiatives that, in the opinion of the Legislative Assembly, are unconstitutional, affect or interfere with Alberta’s constitutional areas of provincial jurisdiction, or interfere or violate the charter rights of Albertans,” it stated.
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