Alberta premier weighing changes to ‘tidy’ up sovereignty bill amid concerns

Danielle Smith says she’s prepared to “tidy” up her first-ever bill as Alberta’s new premier, after the proposed legislation has been met with widespread criticism from Opposition MLAs and constitutional experts.

The Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, if passed into law, would give Smith’s cabinet sweeping powers to not only decide what federal laws, programs, policies and initiatives infringe on Alberta’s jurisdiction, but also to order institutions in the province not to enforce them, and let the cabinet amend legislation passed in the legislature.

“People have raised some concerns,” Smith said in an interview with The West Block’s Mercedes Stephenson, aired Sunday.

“We’re taking a look at that. If we need to tidy a few things up, then we’ll do that.”

In the case that Smith’s cabinet determines that the federal government has stepped on Alberta’s jurisdiction, the bill would grant her cabinet wide-ranging powers — ones usually reserved for public emergencies — to address the concern.

Those powers include the ability to rewrite bills and direct provincial agencies, municipalities, school boards, health regions or municipal police forces to not enforce federal laws.

Before cabinet can deploy these extraordinary powers, the Alberta legislature would have to pass a special resolution spelling out the nature of the federal harm and the recommended remedies. This, Smith has said, would keep cabinet accountable.

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However, the bill does not stipulate cabinet must follow the specific direction of the legislature. Instead, it says cabinet “should consider” using the remedies spelled out in the resolution.

When it comes to the extraordinary measures, the bill says cabinet is free to carry out whatever it deems “necessary or advisable” to meet the threat.