U of C professor says Alberta Sovereignty Act about changing Canadian Constitution

University of Calgary political science professor Barry Cooper said the Canadian Constitution and the Clarity Act “constitute the legal response to the changes in Canadian society when the once religious society of Quebec became the most secular jurisdiction on the continent.” In response, Cooper said this is the historical context the Alberta Sovereignty Act (ASA) is to be understood. “Everyone agrees that social, economic, and political realities change,” said Cooper in a Saturday speech at the Canada Strong and Free Network Regional Conference in Red Deer, AB. “Formerly wealthy jurisdictions grow poor; formerly poor jurisdictions grow wealthy; religious societies become secular.” .When these changes happen, he said they end up in the Canadian Constitution. He added one of the ASA’s strategic purposes is to alter it. One of the ASA’s central provisions enables Alberta to refuse to enforce federal laws that do not serve its interests. This is what Alberta Premier Danielle Smith meant when she said on third reading of the ASA that the Canadian government is not a national one. To see the political issue, he called for people to imagine Laurentian Canadians asking themselves if Alberta would join Canada today. He said attendees know what Albertans will say. The professor went on to say the Canadian Constitution has never worked in favour of Albertans, so it needs to be changed. In fact, he said changing it is called politics. While Albertans might be looking for change now, he said interim measures to fix federalism have been discussed for years. Some of these measures are bringing in a provincial police force, establishing the Alberta Pension Plan, creating a provincial unemployment insurance program, writing a new Alberta banking law, and opting out of federal programs that interfere with provincial jurisdiction. Newer measures include replacing Canada in negotiating international trade and market access, ensuring all judicial appointments in Alberta are made by it, expanding and enhancing financial institutions to protect businesses against federal laws and judicial decisions, and creating the Alberta Revenue Agency to collect provincial taxes. He said other ideas include limiting Albertans’ exposure to federal taxes. He predicted Laurentians would screech about not collecting federal taxes. That is the point. However, he said Albertans will see the ASA and its implications as evidence Alberta is getting serious. It will no longer beg for change. If Laurentian Canada had been open to serious change one generation ago, he said Alberta would not have to get tough. It opted not to change. If Alberta is to remain strong and free, he said Laurentians will have to change their attitudes and political cultures. That is the challenge of federalism today. Cooper concluded by saying acknowledging this reality "is the condition for making Canada a genuine federation." If not, he said it will require Alberta to use the Clarity Act and look at becoming independent. “Albertans know very well what they want,” he said..Canadian Constitution Foundation counsel Josh Dehaas said the federal government has been able to usurp more power in division of power disputes. “The very low watermark for this was the carbon tax reference in 2020 where the Supreme Court of Canada essentially said the federal government can do what they want with carbon emissions because it’s such a big important international problem that can override all kinds of provincial jurisdiction,” said Dehaas. “But the good news is because of Alberta intervening and challenging the Impact Assessment Act or the No More Pipelines Bill, we got very good news last year in 2023 that that is mostly unconstituional according to the Supreme Court and that opens some new opportunities for Alberta to right the ship and protect provincial jurisdiction.” One idea Dehaas said the Alberta government should look at is filing a legal challenge against the Clean Electricity Regulations (CER) to expand provincial jurisdiction. Because of the IAA victory, he acknowledged the CER is ripe for a legal challenge. .Former University of Calgary political science professor Ted Morton said the Western Hockey League sees the home team not choose the referees and has them brought in from out of town. “That’s not the case in the courts, particularly in the Supreme Court of Canada,” said Morton. “The home team gets to choose according to judgment.” To improve federalism, he said the Alberta government has to change the Canadian judiciary. At the end of the day, he pointed out laws mean what the judges say they mean. The ASA passed third reading in the Alberta Legislature in 2022..Smith's Sovereignty Act passes Alberta Legislature.“It's not like Ottawa is a national government,” said Smith. “The way our country works is that we are a federation of sovereign, independent jurisdictions.”