Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has invoked the Alberta Sovereignty Act and declared that Alberta will not reduce electrical capacity or implement new “green” technologies for electrical generation. What is the Alberta Sovereignty Act? It is a law passed by the Alberta Legislature last December that stated that the Alberta Legislature can identify federal laws or regulations that are harmful to Alberta and refuse to implement them. In essence, it is Alberta telling the Canadian government to butt out of provincial jurisdictions.
A bit of history and law here. When Canada was originally formed in 1867, one of the concerns our founding fathers had was that the US Constitution gave too much power to the national government. Bearing in mind that this was just after the American Civil War. In the Canadian Constitution (both the original British North American Act and the later Canadian Constitution) the powers of the provinces are clearly set out and the Premiers of each province are considered to be on par with the Prime Minister of Canada within their provinces. Thus, when the Premiers meet the Prime Minister it is called a “First Minister’s Meeting”. Areas of the economy such as resources (think oil, timber, mines, etc) and electricity are firmly within the jurisdiction of the individual provinces, and not the federal government.
So, why the Alberta Sovereignty Act? Two names. Justin Trudeau and Steven Guilbeault. So, who are they? Justin Trudeau is the Canadian Prime Minister (you’ve probably heard of him). Steven Guilbeault is Canada’s Environment Minister. Sorry, Minister for the Environment and Climate Change. Yes, there is a Minister in the Canadian Government in charge of Climate Change. And no, he’s not trying to speed it up so Canada is not freezing five to six months out of the year. He is a radical environment activist who was once arrested for scaling the CN Tower in Toronto to ‘raise awareness about climate change’. So, he’s not the guy who’s really interested in debating the issue. Honestly, go google his name and look at his picture. It’s a face made for scowling.
Over the past several years the Canadian government has either passed legislation or made-up directives to “combat climate change”. They have banned non-reusable plastic by government fiat and were recently defeated in court over it. The courts said that the ban was overly broad, and the federal government overstepped their authority. The court also said that the ban was infringing on provincial jurisdiction. Steven Guilbeault essentially said that the government planned to appeal and that the court ruling has no effect on the ban. Yes, a Canadian Minister just said he was going to ignore a Canadian court.
But this is just a sidebar. The real problem is that the government (and especially Steven Guilbeault) have demanded that all electrical power production in Canada be “carbon neutral” by 2035. This is not really a problem right now for Ontario and Quebec as they use a lot of hydro power. However, once those dams have to be replaced….they have to go to wind and solar. But that’s still a few years away.
The problem for Alberta is that a great deal of the electrical power is generated using coal, natural gas and oil, and Trudeau and Guilbeault say they have to go. Now. Alberta has said that this is simply impossible, and based on what I have seen, the Premier of Alberta is right. So, the sovereignty act has been invoked. Trudeau and Guilbeault have said that anyone who defies federal law will go to jail. Including, potentially, the Premier of Alberta.
Danielle Smith has instead stated that the Alberta Government will set up a Crown Corporation (think state owned enterprise) that will be in charge of electrical generation. The people working there will be indemnified from federal law covering electrical generation as the Alberta Sovereignty Act states that they can. Once that happens, if Trudeau and Guilbeault are still in power, who knows?
Danielle Smith is not alone in this. The Premier of Saskatchewan (Scott Moe) has said that as of January 1, 2024, the Crown Corporation in charge of electrical generation in the province of Saskatchewan will no longer collect the Carbon Tax on private homes. Steven Guilbeault has said that he can’t do that, and that Danielle Smith’s implementation of the Alberta Sovereignty Act is simply a “symbolic gesture”. Yes, a Canadian Minister has essentially said that he can override provincial jurisdictions (there’s that term again….).
What does this mean for Canada? Potentially a major constitutional crisis brought on by a federal government that will not respect the law or the constitution. And these things never end well. Privately, I’ve been hearing that separation from Canada is on the table, at least in theory. Premier Smith has a lot of support, since it gets VERY cold in Canada and people don’t want to freeze. Meanwhile, Trudeau and Guilbeault are riding around in limousines and private jets while ignoring the worries of ordinary Canadians. The next few months are going to be….interesting.
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