Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ottawa is “not looking for a fight” with Alberta over the provincial government’s proposed sovereignty bill, but added that he will not “take anything off the table.”
His comment comes the morning after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith tabled legislation that, if approved, will give the provincial cabinet wide-ranging powers that have already faced fierce opposition criticism — and that are already raising constitutional questions.
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Alberta sovereignty act: Municipalities, local police could get provincial directives
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Alberta sovereignty act: Municipalities, local police could get provincial directives
Speaking on his way into a caucus meeting in Ottawa on Wednesday, Trudeau said the proposed “exceptional powers” in the bill are “causing a lot of eyebrows to raise in Alberta.”
“We’re going to see how this plays out,” Trudeau said, after being asked whether he intended to have the federal government step in and contest the bill.
“I’m not going to take anything off the table, but I’m also not looking for a fight.”
If passed, the province says the proposed law could be used “to stand up to federal government overreach and interference in areas of provincial jurisdiction, including … private property, natural resources, agriculture, firearms, regulation of the economy and delivery of health, education and other social programs.”
The proposed act gives cabinet authority to “direct provincial entities to not enforce specific federal laws or policies with provincial resources.” Anyone subject to the bill must comply with it, but the bill does not outline enforcement measures.
When defining the provincial entities it would have power over, the bill casts a wide net. It includes provincial crown-controlled organizations and public agencies, regional health authorities, school boards and public post-secondary institutions, and municipalities, as well as municipal police services.
The act would give cabinet the power to change legislation by order in council. That means laws could be changed or amended without legislative debate.
The process would be: any minister or the premier introduces a motion in the legislative assembly, identifying a federal initiative believed to be harmful to Alberta. Then they’d present a motion that would include a response – or directives — to that initiative using the act. The motion would be debated in legislature and if the majority of MLAs vote for it, it would be passed and then would go to cabinet. Taking the motion and directives as guidance, cabinet ministers then would have the ability to unilaterally, if they so choose, change legislation.
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While the province attempted to assure Indigenous communities that the proposal would not infringe on their rights, both the Treaty 6 and Treaty 8 chiefs released statements reiterating their opposition to the Act. They warned that the law could “conceivably apply to any federal law or requirement, whether in respect to public health, the environment, or treaties — international agreements that take legal precedence over provincial and federal law.”
Opposition NDP MLAs, meanwhile, voted against the first reading of the bill and released a statement saying the legislation would create “investment uncertainty, jeopardize federal funding agreements and risk Alberta’s economic future.”
As the controversial legislation makes its way through the province’s legislature, Trudeau said the federal government will “focus on delivering for Albertans.”
“There’s going to be things that we agree with that government on, there’s going to things we disagree with them on,” he said.
“My focus is always going to be to be constructive in terms of delivering for people right across the country.”
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