Premier Danielle Smith’s Sovereignty Act passed in the early hours on Thursday morning, albeit with fewer powers than originally proposed.
Nonetheless, Smith said the Sovereignty Act gives Albertans a new relationship with the Trudeau Liberals.
“It’s not like Ottawa is a national government,” Smith said during the third reading of the bill.
“The way our country works is that we are a federation of sovereign, independent jurisdictions. They are one of those signatories to the Constitution, and the rest of us are signatories to the Constitution, have a right to exercise our sovereign powers in our own areas of jurisdiction.
A key provision scrapped from the bill before it passed would have given Smith’s cabinet powers to bypass the legislature when writing laws. Smith relinquished this original provision over the weekend.
The legislature still has the final word on law-making.
Still, NDP deputy leader Sarah Hoffman said, “People don’t like it – that’s why you’re trying to ram it through here in the middle of the night.”
Hoffman said the bill “erodes democracy, it hurts our economy, and it is damaging to our national and our international reputation.”
Smith said the Sovereignty Act would do the opposite.
“Over the past week, four of the country’s largest oil sands producers have unveiled bigger capital programs for 2023 with Cenovus Energy announcing Tuesday it will spend between 4 billion and 4.5 billion this year,” she said during question period.
“That’s four oil sands companies within the last week,” she said.
“In fact, when asked directly about the Sovereignty Act, Alex Pourbaix, he is the president and CEO of Cenovus, said, ‘I suspect those initial comments about the bill were directed at ensuring legislation mainstains investor confidence. I have not heard anything from investors worrying about it at this point.'”
The Sovereignty Act bill passed on party lines. UCP provided all 27 votes for it, while the seven votes against it came from the NDP.
Recent polling suggests that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has restored conservative Albertans’ confidence in the United Conservative Party (UCP).
According to polling from 338Canada, Smith is neck and neck with Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley.
