JEAN: Freedom – An Alberta tradition

You probably didn’t know that every right and freedom granted in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms can be taken away by the federal courts, using Section One of the Charter, if the courts believe the government has a good reason to take away those rights. And way too often the federal courts side with the government. So, the Charter does not really protect us.

But freedom is a tradition in Alberta that we understand, respect, and put into law.

In 1972, almost a decade before the Charter was written, the Alberta Legislature guaranteed freedom. You see most of our elected officials in 1972 were either veterans of World War II or grew up during the war. They knew the price of freedom. They understood that freedom was bought with blood, sweat and tears.

These men and women wrote the Alberta Bill of Rights to protect Albertans’ freedom. It is a short but powerful law that protects:

“… the right of the individual to liberty, security of the person and enjoyment of property, and the right not to be deprived thereof except by due process of law; the right of the individual to equality before the law and the protection of the law; freedom of religion; freedom of assembly and association; freedom of the press; and the right of parents to make informed decisions respecting the education of their children.”

The Alberta Bill of Rights is supreme over any other Alberta law, unless that law explicitly says otherwise – and very few do.

Alberta’s Public Health Act specifically says that the Alberta Bill of Rights is the only law in Alberta that overrides the Public Health Act. It was this supremacy of the Alberta Bill of Rights that made MLAs comfortable passing laws that they otherwise had worries about, including giving the Chief Medical Officer of Health significant powers.

And then COVID-19 happened. And the federal courts got involved.

Albertans went to court and were told that Section One of the Charter overruled the Alberta Bill of Rights. Even though the Charter states: “The guarantee in this Charter of certain rights and freedoms shall not be construed as denying the existence of any other rights or freedoms that exist in Canada”, some courts ruled that Section One of the Charter allowed Alberta’s Public Health Act to limit rights that it had no authority to limit.

This is wrong.

That is why, if I become premier, I will have the legislature make changes to the Alberta Bill of Rights to explicitly state that Section One of the Charter cannot be used to extinguish Albertans’ freedom under the Alberta Bill of Rights.

An Alberta government is allowed to decide to limit its ability to take away rights.

Over the years, Albertans have decided they want more freedom than exists in the Charter. I support that decision and I will take steps to protect that tradition of freedom.

Brian Jean is the member of the Alberta Legislative Assembly for Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche and is a candidate for the leadership of the United Conservative Party