Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ottawa is “not looking for a fight” with Alberta over the provincial government’s proposed sovereignty bill, but added it won’t “take anything off the table.”
His comments come the morning after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith introduced legislation that, if passed, will give the provincial cabinet sweeping powers that have already faced fierce criticism from the opposition and they are raising constitutional questions.
Read more: Alberta Sovereignty Act: Municipalities and local police could get provincial guidelines
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Alberta Sovereignty Act: Municipalities and local police could get provincial guidelines
2:25 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith presents a controversial act of sovereignty
Speaking at a caucus meeting in Ottawa on Wednesday, Trudeau said the “exceptional powers” proposed in the bill are “causing a lot of trouble in Alberta.”
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“We’ll see how that works out,” Trudeau said, after being asked if he intended to bring the federal government in and challenge the bill.
“I’m not going to take anything off the table, but I’m not looking for a fight either.”
If passed, the province says the proposed law could be used “to address federal government overreach and interference in areas of provincial jurisdiction, including … private property, natural resources, agriculture , firearms, the regulation of the economy and the provision of health, education and other social programs”.
The proposed act gives cabinet authority to “direct provincial entities not to enforce specific federal laws or policies with provincial resources.” Anyone subject to the bill must comply with it, but the bill does not set out enforcement measures.
When defining the provincial entities over which it would have jurisdiction, the bill casts a wide net. It includes provincial crown-controlled organizations and public agencies, regional health authorities, school boards and public secondary institutions, and municipalities, as well as municipal police services.
3:57 Alberta introduces sovereignty bill that gives cabinet broad powers to fight Ottawa
The act would give the cabinet the power to change legislation by order of the council. This means that laws related to the motion could be changed or amended without legislative debate.
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The process would be: Any minister or premier brings a motion to the legislative assembly, identifying a federal initiative that is believed to be harmful to Alberta. They would then introduce a motion that would include a response (or guidelines) to that initiative using the act. The motion would be debated in the legislature and if the majority of MPs vote for it, it would be approved and then go to the cabinet. Taking the motion and guidelines as guidance, cabinet ministers would have the ability to change legislation unilaterally if they so choose.
Read more: Jason Kenney quits Alberta politics with critical letter on the state of democracy
Martin Olszynski, an associate professor of law at the University of Calgary, said Wednesday that the most troubling part of the proposed bill is “that the prime minister wants us to believe that in order to succeed in his fight with Ottawa, he has to take democratic responsibility here in Alberta.”
Olszynski said the premier needs to properly explain to Albertans why giving this kind of power to cabinet and ministers is justified.
“It seems to restrict the ways in which we could hold this government to account, whether through the democratic process or the courts,” he said.
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“It’s not clear, no one has explained to us, if this is as constitutional as the prime minister says and if this is a fight against Ottawa, why should he protect his actions from the normal scrutiny they should be subjected to in our courts .and for our legislators?
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“There is nothing that I have said or that the minister has said that explains why we would need this mechanism as opposed to simply being prepared to run the legislative process in an expedited manner.”
He said laws can be passed quickly through the regular process.
“In this province, you can pass laws in days, if not hours, if you’re really committed to it. So what is the reason for this law? And it’s not enough to say: ‘We haven’t tried it’. There are many things we haven’t tried. Why this legislation? What advantages does this bring you?
“We have the right to know them because the cost is the democratic responsibility.”
With his background in environmental law, Olszynski doesn’t see a context in which this legislation could be used in a fight with the feds.
“Whether it’s the Fisheries Act and water quality concerns, whether it’s oil and gas emission limits, whether it’s the Federal Impact Assessment Act, the major project review regime , all apply directly to private citizens of the province and private companies.And the (Sovereignty) Act makes it very clear that it cannot and will not compel private individuals to disobey federal laws.
“So whether you’re Suncor or Syncrude or Imperial, or any other context, you’re still going to be bound by whether it’s the impact assessment law or the carbon price, or whatever.”
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Olszynski said there is enough concern about the legislation that it will likely be challenged if it passes third reading.
He said if the premier and the justice minister believe it’s constitutional, they should refer it to the Alberta Court of Appeal for review.
There are red flags in the legislation that will give the court pause, Olszynski said.
“This is a lot like the legislature (and the cabinet, frankly) being given court-like powers to make judgments about the constitutionality of federal laws and court-like powers to overturn or interfere with the enforcement of ‘these laws, the implementation of these laws. laws,’ said the law professor. “In my view, these are two basic judicial functions.
“I think there’s a good argument to be made that this whole part of the bill is unconstitutional as an invasion of the judicial branch of power.”
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Read more: Alberta Sovereignty Act Harms Business: Calgary Chamber of Commerce
Although the province sought to assure Indigenous communities that the proposal would not infringe on their rights, both 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 it concerns public health, the environment or treaties — international agreements that take legal precedence over provincial and federal law.”
Meanwhile, opposition NDP MPs voted against the bill’s first reading and released a statement saying the legislation would create “investment uncertainty, jeopardize federal funding arrangements and put Alberta’s economic future is at risk.”
1:36 Trudeau says feds are looking at Alberta sovereignty act ‘very, very closely’
As the controversial legislation moves through the province’s legislature, Trudeau said the federal government will “focus on delivering for Albertans.”
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“There will be things we agree with this government on, there will be things we disagree with them on,” he said.
“My approach will always be constructive in terms of providing for people across the country.”
Conservatives in Ottawa were largely silent on the matter Wednesday, with two Alberta MPs saying they had yet to read the bill.
Garnett Genuis, another provincial MP, said the best way to ease Albertans’ frustrations with Ottawa is to replace Trudeau.
Genuis had more to say about the proposal during the provincial leadership race, when he endorsed Travis Toews, who is now a member of Smith’s cabinet.
In an opinion piece published in August, he called the future sovereignty law a “cheap gimmick” that violates the constitution and the rule of law.
“If asserting provincial authority was as easy as passing this law, it would have been done by now,” Genuis wrote.
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