Proposed amendment to Alberta Sovereignty Act removes unilateral lawmaking power of cabinet
The Alberta government is amending the Sovereignty Act to take away cabinet's unilateral powers to change legislation as proposed in the original version of the bill.
Under amendments revealed Monday by the United Conservative Party caucus, cabinet would be compelled to send provincial laws back to the legislative assembly for all three stages of debate if it was decided a statute needed to be changed to fight a federal initiative.
The original version of the bill left that power entirely with cabinet.
Monday's proposed changes to Bill 1 also narrow the definition of what federal law, policy or program the provinces deems as subject to a resolution. The measures must be unconstitutional, according to MLAs, interfere with provincial jurisdiction, or violate the charter rights of Albertans.
The proposed amendments were discussed in a UCP caucus meeting Monday morning.
The changes aim to calm the controversy that erupted six days ago when Premier Danielle Smith introduced the bill in the legislative assembly.
Constitutional experts, columnists, other politicians and members of the public have called the bill unconstitutional and alarmingly anti-democratic for vesting so much power in the executive branch of government.
Smith proposed the legislation last summer while campaigning to succeed Jason Kenney as leader of the governing United Conservative Party.
The purpose of the bill is to "push back" against federal legislation, policies and programs that are deemed unconstitutional or harmful to Alberta's interests.
The alleged intrusion would be put into a resolution that would be debated in the legislative assembly.
Once passed, the resolution would go to cabinet, which could take several actions. In its original wording, the bill gave cabinet the power to change provincial legislation.
Other measures include giving cabinet the power to direct bodies that receive provincial funding — such as health authorities, post-secondary institutions, municipalities and municipal police forces — to ignore federal law.
The NDP Opposition said on Sunday that it will not support any amendments to Bill 1.
Deron Bilous, the party's economic development critic, said the bill is beyond saving and must be revoked entirely.
