EDMONTON 鈥� The top adviser to incoming Alberta premier Danielle Smith says her proposed sovereignty act would respect Supreme Court decisions 鈥� a reversal of her core policy promise on how she would challenge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau鈥檚 government.
Rob Anderson, Smith鈥檚 campaign chair for the United Conservative Party leadership and now executive director of her transition team, told CBC in a story published Saturday that Smith鈥檚 proposed sovereignty act won鈥檛 empower Alberta to disregard Supreme Court rulings.
But Anderson promised that the act, which has yet to be drafted, would 鈥渉ave a whole head of very sharp teeth鈥� and 鈥渃hange the dynamic鈥� with Trudeau鈥檚 Liberal government.
Smith鈥檚 spokesman Jonah Mozeson, responding to an email request for comment Monday, declined to answer specific queries about Anderson鈥檚 statement.
In a short statement, Mozeson said, 鈥淎s the premier-designate has said, the sovereignty act will be drafted in accordance with sound constitutional principles.
鈥淭he premier-designate looks forward to working with caucus to draft legislation that protects and asserts Alberta鈥檚 constitutional rights in accordance with the rule of law.鈥澛�
The sovereignty act is the signature policy for Smith, who is to be sworn in as premier Tuesday.聽
She won the UCP leadership race last week showcasing the act as a vanguard of a broader paradigm-busting challenge against what she has termed Trudeau鈥檚 "lawless" intrusion in areas of provincial scope, ranging from energy development to COVID-19 health rules.聽
The act as proposed by Smith would allow the province to refuse to follow federal laws and court rulings it deemed to be not in Alberta鈥檚 best interests and an illegal intrusion into its duly delegated spheres of influence under the Constitution.
As recently as a month ago, Smith said the sovereignty act would only be used in special circumstances using "special motions" requiring the consent of the legislature.聽
She also stressed Alberta would not consider itself bound by the courts.聽
鈥淚f a court stays or ultimately deems that the actions undertaken by the province under a specific Alberta sovereignty act special motion is unconstitutional, then the government and legislature will have to review the special motion actions in question and make a decision as to whether or not to amend, end or continue with them, understanding the legal implications such a decision could cause,鈥� Smith said in a news release Sept. 6.聽
The sovereignty act dominated the debate throughout the summer-long leadership campaign to replace Jason Kenney as party leader and premier.
It was denounced by five of Smith's six leadership rivals, and by Kenney, as a profoundly illegal and dangerous plan doomed to ignite economic chaos as Albertans, investors and businesses wouldn鈥檛 know which laws they were to follow.
Alberta Lt.-Gov. Salma Lakhani entered the debate at one point, saying she is duty-bound not to sign into law a bill that violates the Constitution.聽
Martin Olszynski, an administrative law professor at the University of Calgary, who has written articles on the sovereignty act, said if Anderson鈥檚 reversal is as advertised, it is the legally proper way to proceed but represents a fundamental rollback of Smith鈥檚 original proposal.
鈥淎ll of the sovereignty act, as it has been currently described, could only work if the premier and the legislature were prepared to ignore the courts. That鈥檚 been very clear. That鈥檚 why everybody was so alarmed,鈥� said Olszynski in interview.聽
鈥淲e have to see the details, of course,鈥� he added.聽
鈥淏ut if suddenly now the premier-designate and her office are prepared to say, 'of course we're bound by the courts,' then the sovereignty act goes nowhere.鈥澛�
Smith said the sovereignty act will be introduced in the upcoming fall session.聽
It grew out of the Free Alberta Strategy, a policy paper introduced last September by Anderson, University of Calgary political science professor Barry Cooper and lawyer Derek From.
In the paper, the trio call for radical action, such as refusing to implement federal laws and court rulings, in order to combat decisions deemed to be mortally wounding Alberta's development.
Cooper, in a June newspaper op-ed, said the unconstitutionality of such a proposal is not a bug in the program but its primary feature.
In a National Post story published June 17, Anderson was quoted saying, 鈥淭he idea is that it doesn鈥檛 matter what the Supreme Court or the federal government says about it, if it attacks Albertans, the interest of Albertans, and it attacks our jurisdictional rights, we simply won鈥檛 enforce it with any provincial agency.鈥�
Anderson told the newspaper at that time that he expected the sovereignty act would likely be found unconstitutional but the province could ignore such a court ruling.
鈥淭he Alberta legislature would say, 鈥楾hanks for that, but we鈥檙e not going to enforce it. So you can鈥檛 make us.' And what are they going to do? Maybe send in the army? Is that the plan?鈥� said Anderson.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2022.
Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press
