EDMONTON—Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s Sovereignty Act, having just made it through first reading in the legislature, has generated both praise for its stated purpose of providing a “constitutional shield” against overreach by Ottawa, and suggestions that the bill is unconstitutional and undemocratic.
The act’s stated purpose is to “protect Albertans from federal legislation or policies that are unconstitutional or harmful to our province, our people or our economic prosperity.”
Critics say Bill 1, the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, would give cabinet new powers to bypass the legislative assembly and unilaterally amend provincial laws, something that came to be known as a Henry VIII clause. This term refers to clauses that allow ministers to use executive powers, rather than legislative processes, to modify or change laws without oversight or debate by the elected members of the legislature….