Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her sovereignty bill, which gives her cabinet unlimited power to rewrite laws behind closed doors without legislative approval, was never intended to do so.
In an interview with CBC Newsworld on Friday, Smith told CBC Newsworld she was open to making amendments to Bill 1 to clarify that any laws her cabinet changes or draft proposals would come back to the legislature for debate and a vote.
“I think maybe we lack a little bit of clarity,” Smith said when pressed about why her bill as currently drafted would give her and her cabinet emergency-type powers to unilaterally rewrite legislation to curb what it sees as intrusive federal considered policy and laws.
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Smith agreed that while the cabinet has the power to make regulations and other rules that grow out of laws, the laws themselves have a higher standard.
“We never intended it to apply to statutes. Bylaws do have to come back to the legislature for approval,” Smith said.
“And if there is any statutory change that (we) will have to make (under this bill) from these motions, we will make it clear that that is the case.”
In response to her comments, University of Alberta constitutional law professor Eric Adams said: “If (Smith) is proposing that they change the legislation to remove the capacity of (cabinet) to amend other laws because of ‘ A provocative motion, this is a positive development for the legislation.
“This indicates that they have heard enough criticism that they (now) have to change course.”
The bill has faced widespread attacks for provisions that would give Smith and her cabinet the power to rewrite laws and direct provincially-legislated or funded entities — such as municipalities, police forces, health regions, post-secondary institutions and school boards — to federal laws.
Critics say such broad, unchecked powers are a threat to the checks and balances that underpin a healthy democracy.
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Since Smith introduced the bill on Tuesday, she and her cabinet members have been under fire, dismissing such criticism by claiming the bill does specify the laws they change still need to be confirmed by the House.
Legal and constitutional experts confirm there is nothing in the bill that says this.
The bill was characterized by Smith as a deliberately confrontational tool to mend the relationship with a federal government she accuses of interfering in constitutionally protected areas of provincial responsibility from energy development to health care.
Under the bill, the cabinet will decide when Ottawa interferes in Alberta’s jurisdiction through a law, policy or program or through a threatened federal initiative it believes could cause harm.
The Cabinet will send a resolution to the legislative assembly spelling out the nature of the damage and the remedies to rectify it.
If the legislature gives its approval by majority vote, that is where its involvement ends and the cabinet takes over. It could use the bill’s extraordinary powers to rewrite legislation and order provincial agencies to override federal laws based on whatever the cabinet deems “necessary or advisable.”
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The bill gives the cabinet wide latitude on how to interpret the resolution it receives from the assembly. It says the cabinet “must” follow the direction of the house, but does not instruct it.
Alberta’s opposition NDP called the bill an undemocratic power grab.
“This bill gives the prime minister the so-called Henry VIII power to write laws behind closed doors with no input from this assembly,” NDP Leader Rachel Notley told question period Thursday.
Smith delivered a mixed message about how the bill will ultimately be used.
Her office sent documents to reporters on Tuesday saying the government hoped to use it in the spring, but that same day she told a news conference it was a last-resort bill and she hoped never to use it.
Indigenous leaders criticized the bill as heavy-handed and divisive. Business groups, including the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, warn that its legal uncertainty is not good for investment.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
