(Edmonton) The Alberta government is working on changes, to be discussed next week, to amend the current provisions of the province’s “sovereignty” law, which would give the cabinet the power to rewrite laws behind closed doors without having to go through the Legislative Assembly.
Posted 4:56pm Updated 5:59pm
Dean Bennett The Canadian Press
Alberta Prime Minister Danielle Smith said in a radio interview on Saturday. She argued that the bill should not give the cabinet such powers and that her government was determined to make it clear that the cabinet would not have the right to rewrite laws privately.
“You can’t get anything 100% right the first time,” Smith said. I think there is a bit of confusion in all of this, so we are working on amendments that will make everything clear. »
The bill, unveiled this week, was received very coldly because, if passed, it would give Ms. Smith and her cabinet the power to repeal any federal policy, law or program they deem harmful to Alberta’s interests.
Many people have criticized the fact that such power, exercised behind closed doors, without the oversight of the legislature, jeopardizes the principles of checks and balances essential to a healthy democracy.
The bill also raised concerns about the provision giving the cabinet the power to direct provincially enacted or funded entities to oppose federal legislation.
These entities include municipalities, police forces, health regions, post-secondary institutions and school boards.
In the days following the bill’s introduction, Ms Smith and members of her cabinet reiterated loud and clear that the new law would not give cabinet unilateral powers to amend laws.
But on Friday afternoon, in an interview with CBC, the prime minister acknowledged changes may be needed. On Saturday morning, she confirmed changes would be made.
“Some people are concerned that the bill is written in such a way that the cabinet could unilaterally change laws, but we can’t do that,” Smith said in a radio interview. If we want to change laws (once the law is passed), we have to come back to the Legislative Assembly. We are working on this clarification. »
The Alberta PM added that these changes will be discussed next week and that she wants a “fair” approach.
“When we’ve created confusion with awkward language, we change it so we can talk about the bigger issues,” she said.
Ms Smith floated the idea of a “sovereignty” law in Alberta in June.
She called it a deliberately confrontational tool to restore ties with a federal government it accuses of meddling in areas of provincial jurisdiction such as energy development and health care.
Under this new law, the Cabinet would have the power to determine whether Ottawa would interfere with Alberta’s jurisdiction through any law, policy or program that it believes could harm the province.
The cabinet would then send a resolution to the Legislative Assembly detailing the nature of the damage and ways to remedy it.
If the legislature makes the decision, its involvement ends and the cabinet takes over. The cabinet could then use the bill’s extraordinary powers to rewrite laws and direct provincial agencies to ignore federal laws based on what it deems “necessary or desirable.”
Ms Smith did not say how she will use the bill. Over the past few days, she has been hesitating between saying it is a measure of last resort and saying she hopes to be able to use it as early as spring.