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94-603: It was established by the Alberta Government in 2001 under the "Special Places program" by Order in Council 308/2001. At 5,900 square kilometres (2,300 sq mi), it is the largest provincial protected area in Alberta. (The nearby Wood Buffalo National Park is managed by the federal government.) The park protects fragile wetland that offers nesting grounds for a variety of bird species and core habitat of

188-538: A "full-frontal attack on the rule of law", as well as a step towards separation and a " banana republic ". Six of Smith's opponents in the leadership race criticized it. In a September 8 press conference, four of these contenders for the UCP leadership—Brian Jean, Travis Toews, Rajan Sawhney, and Leela Aheer —held a press conference specifically to speak out against the Alberta Sovereignty Act that Smith

282-494: A $ 700 million risk adjustment, which was intended to reflect "volatility of Alberta’s resource revenue." (Provinsion/ Allowance) ( USD ) Alberta Sovereignty Act The Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act , commonly known as the Alberta Sovereignty Act , is an act introduced on November 29, 2022, the first day of the fall sitting of the 4th Session of the 30th Alberta Legislature by

376-438: A June 15, 2022, Twitter post that she would introduce the Alberta Sovereignty Act on her first day as premier. The act, also known as Bill 1, would give the province the authority to "refuse to enforce any federal law or policy that attacks Alberta's interest or our provincial rights." Smith said that Alberta should emulate British Columbia and Quebec in asserting citizens' rights. In a June 16, 2022, National Post , Smith used

470-565: A Liberal government. Through the 1910s the growing farmer movement forced reforms out of this government and, embodied in the United Farmers of Alberta group, it launched itself into direct politics, winning power in the first election it contested. Louise McKinney and Roberta MacAdams were the first women elected to the Legislative Assembly, in the 1917 election . They were also the first women in any legislature of

564-652: A National Energy Program. It failed. To this day, Canada is one of only a few major countries without a national energy plan. The CCF never did elect an MP in Alberta. But under its later label, the New Democratic Party, the left has achieved more successes in Alberta, electing an MP in 1988 and one in Edmonton-Strathcona every time since 2008. In 2021 an additional NDP MP was elected in Edmonton Griesbach. The party received almost

658-708: A United Canada Act is intended to shield the province of Alberta from perceived overreach by the federal government in areas of provincial constitutional jurisdictions, including those outlined in Section 92 of the Constitution Act, 1867 . Specific areas of concern brought forward by Danielle Smith include private property , natural resources, agriculture, firearms, regulation of the economy, health, education, and other social programs. University of Calgary law professors, Martin Olszynski and Nigel Bankes note that

752-682: A bill was not immediately granted royal assent in Alberta was in 1937 when Lieutenant Governor John C. Bowen reserved royal assent of the Bank Taxation Act , Credit of Alberta Regulation Act, 1937 , and the Accurate News and Information Act until their legality could be tested at the Supreme Court of Canada . In Reference Re Alberta Statutes the Supreme Court struck down the three bills as ultra vires of

846-472: A broad definition of entities that receive grant funding from the province of Alberta to provide a public service. A proposed application of the act can be triggered with a motion introduced in the legislative assembly by the premier or any minister identifying a specific federal policy or regulation which is deemed by them to be unconstitutional, contrary to the Charter or " harmful " to Albertans. Following

940-645: A challenge from the right wing, the upstart Wildrose Alliance Party . A November 2009 poll said the new party had 28% support, just 6 points behind the governing PCs. In polls, the Wildrose Party had a double digit lead over the PCs in December 2009, with 39% versus 25% each for the PCs and Alberta Liberals. In April 2015, Jim Prentice called an election for May 5, citing the need for a mandate in order to make longer-term economic changes. Though initial polls had

1034-410: A debate of the resolution in the legislative assembly, an open vote would be held. The resolution would pass if a majority of Members of the Legislative Assembly vote in favour of the resolution. The legislature can make recommendations to cabinet on how to proceed on resolutions that require cabinet action. As originally introduced to the legislature, once the resolution was passed, Bill 1 would grant

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1128-740: A few years after its creation in 2003–2004. However, small disaffection with the Conservative Party of Canada over policies enacted during its minority government such as Equalization payments in Canada and the Conservatives' reversal on income trusts led to the founding of the nascent federal Party of Alberta, in 2006. Provincially, while the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta had been in power for 40 years, they continued to win large majorities in

1222-529: A fifth of the Alberta vote in 2021 and proportionally was due six seats. Rural Alberta ridings typically give the leading party, whether it is the Conservatives, or the United Farmers, Social Credit, Reform and the Alliance before them, some of the highest margins in the country; in many cases, the successful candidate receives more than two-thirds of the vote. Alberta's political stability has led to

1316-707: A majority of seats in the Legislature. Some Albertans continue to resent the imposition in the 1980s of the National Energy Program (NEP) by the Liberal federal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau . It was considered to be an intrusion by the federal government in an area of provincial responsibility. This led some Albertans to advocate separation of the province from Canada but this advocacy (despite occasional surges in interest) has never resulted in electoral success. Neither, however, has

1410-585: A majority of the seats in the Legislature does not necessarily receive a majority of votes cast in the election. For example, in the 2004 election, the Progressive Conservative party won 61 of 83 seats (73% of the seats) but obtained only 47% of the popular vote. During the UFA and early Socred government periods, elections were conducted using transferable preferential ballots (see ranked voting ). Members in cities ran in city-wide districts, under

1504-598: A proposed " Alberta Sovereignty Act " if it was determined to be unconstitutional. The proposed law would give the province the ability to ignore federal legislation it does not agree with. The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the Alberta Legislature for the province of Alberta , Canada, and is seated at the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital of Edmonton . The Legislative Assembly

1598-546: A provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces , namely a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy . The capital of the province is Edmonton , where the provincial Legislative Building is located. The unicameral legislature, the Alberta Legislature , is composed of the Lieutenant Governor and the Legislative Assembly , which has 87 members. Government

1692-407: A provincial law that declares a clear intent to attempt to 'negate' valid federal jurisdiction would almost certainly be considered to be exceeding the scope of provincial powers— ultra vires . Failing to enforce a federal law or regulation "would be blatantly unconstitutional", according to Macfarlane. Law professors, Olszynski and Bankes identified three potential constitutional challenges to

1786-400: A reasoned amendment is adopted, it has the effect of defeating a bill, the reasoned amendments were defeated 9 for, 26 against and 9 for, 28 against respectively. Debate on second reading was ended on December 6, when the government passed a time allocation motion to force a vote on second reading. Second reading was passed with 30 for, 9 against. The bill was then moved to a committee of

1880-582: A riding just outside Edmonton and was perceived to be less connected to the interests of the energy corporations whose headquarters are in Calgary. Stelmach gave way in 2011 to Alison Redford , the province's first female premier. She led the Tories to a 12th consecutive election victory in 2012 . Redford was forced to resign in 2014, and was ultimately succeeded by former federal minister Jim Prentice . The period of conservative dominance in Alberta politics

1974-465: A series of political continuity. Voters have turned a government out of office only five times in 115 years. The two governments prior to 2015 were among the longest-lived in the Commonwealth. Sine the end of STV/IRV in 1956, Alberta elections have used the first-past-the-post voting system so MLAs elected do not necessarily receive a majority of the votes in the constituency, and the party with

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2068-440: A time when Albertans are desperately looking for economic recovery." She described Premier Smith, Barry Cooper and their supporters as a "very extreme fringe of the Alberta population". Notley said that there are good arguments for the Alberta to achieve greater control of its own "economic destiny" but Bill 1 was "completely and entirely disconnected from that object." Chiefs representing Treaty 6 , 7 , and 8 publicly opposed

2162-538: Is a unicameral assembly of 87 members, elected first past the post from single-member electoral districts . Bills passed by the legislature are given Royal Assent by Charles III , King of Canada , represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta . The current Legislature is the 30th, since Alberta entered Confederation under the Alberta Act in 1905, and is composed of members elected in

2256-425: Is an organizational descendant of the old Progressive-Conservative Party that reigned from 1971 to 2015.) All Alberta elections have resulted in a majority government , a trend unseen in any other Canadian province. (But frequently the most popular party was the choice of less than half the voters.) Even with crossing the floor or by-elections , Alberta has never had a minority government. Each government has held

2350-541: Is conducted after the Westminster model . The provincial government's revenue, although it is often described as predominantly coming from the province's resource base, actually is derived from a variety of sources. Nonrenewable resource revenue provided the government with 24 percent of its revenue in 2010–11, with about the same coming from individual income tax, 14 per cent from grants from the federal government , and about eight percent coming from both corporations and

2444-575: Is often obscured by the first-past-the-post electoral system. No Labour or CCF or NDP candidate won an Edmonton seat from 1955 to 1982, despite the large left vote in the city overall, in part due to the cancellation of the STV/IRV voting systems in 1956. The 2004 provincial election was an example of how the city got its nickname "Redmonton"; Liberal and New Democrat candidates won 15 of the city's 18 seats. While Tories won 13 of Edmonton's 18 seats in 2008, Klein's successor, Ed Stelmach , represented

2538-459: Is present-day Alberta in 1880s/1890s, Calgary and southern Alberta generally elected Conservatives, such as Donald Watson Davis and north-central Alberta elected Liberals such as Frank Oliver . After province-hood, Alberta's federal representation mostly echoed that of its provincial government. Like provincial elections, federal elections again and again saw the leading party (no matter what its label) receive more than its due share of members and

2632-527: Is that we are a federation of sovereign, independent jurisdictions. They are one of those signatories to the Constitution and the rest of us, as signatories to the Constitution, have a right to exercise our sovereign powers in our own areas of jurisdiction." The Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act was introduced by Premier Danielle Smith as Bill 1 of the fourth session of the 30th Alberta Legislature on November 29, 2022. The first reading

2726-609: The April 16, 2019 general election , and returned a majority parliament controlled by the United Conservative Party commonly abbreviated to 'UCP'. The day-to-day operation and activities of the Government of Alberta are performed by the provincial departments and agencies, staffed by the non-partisan public service, and directed by the elected government. The premier of Alberta is the primary minister of

2820-534: The Canada Pension Plan . Cooper was also a co-author of the 2001 Firewall letter , which Smith—then a columnist and a 770 CHQR radio host— had referred to in her October 17, 2019, Calgary Herald opinion piece, to enable Alberta to become—like Quebec—a "nation within a nation". In the op-ed, Smith called for a resurrection of the Firewall letter. During her 2022 electoral campaign, Smith said that

2914-569: The Canadian Constitution does not prevent provinces from declining to enforce federal laws and that the act "as written appears to be constitutional and consistent with our constitutional tradition, in which federalism is a foundational principle that does not entail central domination." However, they later added that "the bill can only be constitutional if it permits the province to exercise existing powers under our federal system. If it offends these principles in its application, then

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3008-464: The Liberal Party of Canada enjoyed much success in Alberta (outside of Edmonton) since that time. The NEP was ended when the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada , led by Brian Mulroney , formed the federal government following the 1984 federal election . In the 2006 election , the federal Conservative Party of Canada won all the seats in Alberta, providing them with a complete sweep of

3102-549: The Northern Gateway Pipeline cancellation. Another issue is the perspective that the other provinces oppose the Albertan oil industry while enjoying the profits from it. The Government of Alberta held a referendum in 2021 asking if equalization should be removed from the constitution, with a turnout of 39% and a majority of 61% of those voting being in favour of removal. The Alberta Sovereignty Within

3196-487: The federal government , and the 10 provinces. The powers of the Crown are vested in the monarch and are exercised by the lieutenant governor. While the advice of the premier and Executive Council is typically binding on the lieutenant governor, there are occasions when the lieutenant governor has refused advice. This usually occurs if the premier does not clearly command the confidence of the elected Legislative Assembly, or if

3290-538: The single transferable voting system ensuring city-wide proportional representation in the Legislature; members outside the cities were elected using Instant-runoff voting . In the cities, under STV, balanced representation was elected, while IRV, used elsewhere, produced the same disproportional results that were produced before 1924 and after 1956 by first past the post. No Labour, CCF or NDP members were elected in Edmonton prior to 1982 except in elections where STV

3384-457: The "impugned law, ruling or regulatory decision". If passed, the resolution would be reviewed within two years. Several law experts and professors said that the act could be unconstitutional. Treaty 6 , 7 , and 8 chiefs immediately stated their opposition to the act through news conferences and in public statements and criticized the government for not consulting with them. Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley also stated her opposition to

3478-509: The Alberta Institute, a libertarian think tank founded in 2018 by Peter McCaffrey, who also is its President. Anderson was also Smith's campaign chair during the run-up to the 2022 UCP leadership election. Smith was not a part of the "Free Alberta Strategy" nor did she contribute to the document, but after reading it, she liked the idea of the sovereignty act. In a September 2022 National Post interview, Cooper clarified that

3572-515: The Alberta MPs were of that party. Calgary was a labour stronghold, and its election of two Labour MPs in 1921 was un-equalled anywhere else in the country. When Social Credit came into vogue, winning its first electoral successes in 1935, federal representation also changed to being mostly Socred. The Social Credit party under Ernest Manning turned right-wing in the 1940s, but this apparently mirrored changing sentiment among Alberta voters. And

3666-410: The Alberta Sovereignty Act, was not about separating from Canada but asserting the province's rights within Canada by self-governance of a "Nation within a Nation", similar to Quebec's self-governance and Saskatchewan's proposed Saskatchewan First Act . When Smith was a contender for the leadership of the United Conservative Party (UCP) to replace then Alberta Premier Jason Kenney , she announced in

3760-401: The Alberta energy industry; reduction in fossil fuel electricity generation; and the federal government firearm restriction and buyback program. Smith said that one example of how the Alberta Sovereignty Act could be implemented would be to place intra-provincial highway or power plant projects under the auspices of the provincial government instead of the federal government, therefore removing

3854-500: The Alberta government as overreaching federal jurisdiction that may be considered as test cases for the act include the Impact Assessment Act and Canadian Energy Regulator Act , commonly known as Bill C-69, the federal government’s firearms buyback program , planned fertilizer emissions reductions, and conditional funding for health and social programs . Smith has also stated the Government of Alberta will challenge

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3948-406: The Alberta votes so was proportionally due five seats in that province. In those years when Alberta had no Liberal MPs, Liberals were in power 1965-1968, 1972-1979, 1980-1984, 1993 to 2006 and 2019 to the present. In almost all of those five periods, for a total of 31 years, Alberta did not have direct representation in the federal cabinet. This included the years when PM Pierre Trudeau tried to create

4042-581: The Bill, including both the separation and the division of powers , as well as the "impermissible delegation of legislative authority"—the so-called Henry VIII clause. They added that the Bill 1 was both "significant" and "unprecedented" in the way in which it intrudes into Canada's superior courts' jurisdictions. Director of the UBC Centre for Constitutional Law and Legal Studies, Geoffrey Sigalet, alongside PhD candidate and lawyer, Jesse Hartery, argued that

4136-561: The British Empire. Irene Parlby was the first woman appointed to the provincial Cabinet, in 1921. Alberta was swept up in the wave of "prairie populism" that took place after the First World War ; from 1921 to 1935 the United Farmers of Alberta headed the longest-lived of the farmers' governments that won power in Canada during this time. It made several reforms including changing Alberta's election system. Ranked voting

4230-462: The Crown . The premier acts as the head of government for the province, chairs and selects the membership of the Cabinet , and advises the Crown on the exercise of executive power and much of the royal prerogative . Alberta's parliamentary governments are determined by general elections held every three to five years. Five years is the maximum term allowed. By-elections are conducted between

4324-549: The House on November 30, Jagmeet Singh , leader of the federal New Democratic Party , questioned the prime minister on the potential for the act to undermine Canadian federal laws. The prime minister said that he would wait to see how Albertans responded to the act as a "lot of eyebrows" were raised in Alberta. During the December 8 Assembly of First Nations special assembly in Ottawa, Prime Minister Trudeau responded to questions on

4418-456: The Legislative Assembly, winning 72 out of 83 seats in the March 2008 provincial election, although with declining popularity and lowering voter turn-out, reflecting increasing disfavour among ordinary Albertans regarding the government's market-first policies, its low quality of health and education services, and its flat-income tax policy. As well, for the first time since the 1980s, the PCs faced

4512-486: The Official Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The UCP won a majority mandate in the 2019 Alberta general election to form the government of Alberta. In the 2023 election they lost several seats but maintained a majority in the Legislative Assembly. The 2016-2017 budget contained a $ 10.4 billion deficit, with $ 41.1 billion in revenue and $ 51.1 billion in expenditures. The budget also contained

4606-597: The PCs in the lead, as the election approached they fell behind the opposition Wildrose party, and the NDP. On May 5 the NDP gained 53 seats, winning a majority government under Rachel Notley. The United Conservative Party (UCP) was established in July 2017 as a merger between the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party. When established, the UCP immediately formed

4700-649: The Premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith , and passed on December 8, 2022. The act seeks to protect Alberta from federal laws and policies that the Alberta legislature deems to be unconstitutional or harmful to Albertans or the province's economic prosperity, in areas such as natural resources, gun control, COVID-19 public health, education, and agriculture. The act directs "political entities"—including municipalities, school boards, municipal police forces, and regional health authorities—to not enforce "federal rules deemed harmful to Alberta's interests." A proposed use of

4794-430: The act compels provincial entities, it does not compel private companies or individuals to comply with a directive of Executive Council. Under section 1(e) of the act, provincial entities that may be compelled by a directive include provincial public agencies, Crown corporations , Alberta Health Services , post-secondary institutions, school boards, municipalities, and police services. Furthermore, section 1(e)(iv) includes

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4888-479: The act has ten "operative sections". The bill includes a section on definitions and another on interpretation, a third clause describing the resolution process for triggering the law into action, a description of the Lieutenant Governor in Council's relevant powers, a section on time limits on special measures arising from application of the law, a section on potential effects of directives arising from

4982-563: The act itself was deliberately "unconstitutional" to put the federal government on notice that Alberta would "no longer recognize their claimed authority over provincial areas of constitutional sovereignty." The document also called for the province of Alberta to replace the Canada Revenue Agency with its own tax collection service, establish a provincial police force to replace the RCMP, as well as an Alberta pension plan to replace

5076-543: The act would be triggered when a member of the Executive Council tables a motion in the Legislative Assembly identifying a specific federal law or policy that may be considered to be unconstitutional, in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or harmful to Albertans. After a Legislative Assembly debate on the merits of the resolution, all members would take part in a free vote on

5170-449: The act, saying that it was being used by Premier Smith as a "political tool" to attempt to engage in a "fight" with the federal government. While he expressed "extreme concern" about what the act represented, he said he was not "interested in fighting with the Alberta government". The prime minister responded to concerns by delegates at the assembly that the act and Saskatchewan's Bill 88 were "shutting out Indigenous voices". He said that it

5264-467: The act. A December 2022 Leger poll said that 32% of Albertans agreed that the act was "necessary to stand up to the federal government", against 42% who disagreed. The Alberta Sovereignty Act was a key component of Smith's campaign when she successfully contested the United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership election in 2022 , contributing to her election as UCP leader and appointment as Premier of Alberta . The concept of an Alberta Sovereignty Act

5358-434: The advice or legislation would be unconstitutional. In 2022, Lieutenant Governor Salma Lakhani identified the constitutional role of the lieutenant governor as the most important part of the job. She stated "We are a constitutional monarchy, and this is where we do checks and balances. I’m what I would call a ‘constitutional fire extinguisher.’ We don’t have to use it a lot, but sometimes we do have to use it," in response to

5452-474: The cabinet unilateral powers to change laws, and/or enact measures, which could include giving specific directives to "provincial entities". Cabinet could also take any other action that they are "legally able to take" relevant to the resolution. Amendments were introduced to require Cabinet to introduce any legislative changes to the legislature. The reaction by some politicians and legal scholars has been negative. Former premier Jason Kenney described it as

5546-420: The committee stage, third reading of the amended bill was moved. Again, several NDP MLAs attempted to filibuster passage of third reading, with Marie Renaud moving another reasoned amendment, which was defeated in a voice vote . Alberta NDP House Leader Christina Gray then moved a hoist motion , which was defeated 7 for, 27 against. Debate on third reading was ended late on the night of December 7–8 when

5640-460: The courts will be justified in intervening. But we would reiterate that the fact that provincial non-enforcement is constitutional does not necessarily mean that it is advisable." Lieutenant Governor Salma Lakhani said that she would evaluate the constitutionality of the legislation before granting royal assent. Typically, in the modern political environment, royal assent is an automatic process and viceroys defer to their premiers. The last time that

5734-706: The different levels of government. Legislative powers of the provinces and the Parliament of Canada are set out in sections 91 to 95 of the Constitution Act, 1867 . According to a 2022 Library of Parliament article, the Constitution of Canada has been described as a living tree in constitutional law, as it adapts to "new situations and new social realities". Historically, conflicts concerning jurisdiction, finances, culture, or perceived favouritism have occurred between provinces and each other, and with

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5828-536: The even with amendments, they would not support Bill 1. In an interview with reporters, Alberta Indigenous relations minister, Rick Wilson, said that the UCP should have done more consultation on the bill as there was some "confusion among Indigenous leaders" in regards to the term "sovereignty". He said the act "respects treaty rights". In an email with the National Post , University of Waterloo 's constitutional law expert, Emmett Macfarlane, said that enacting

5922-544: The example of the lax enforcement of cannabis laws in British Columbia prior to its legalization through the October 17, 2018, federal Cannabis Act to explain how Alberta could opt out of enforcing federal law. The Alberta sovereignty act propelled her into office and became her signature piece of legislation. A key feature of Canadian federalism is the way in which legislative powers are distributed among

6016-471: The federal government's Carbon Tax . During her United Conservative Party leadership campaign, Smith listed a number of federal policies that may be unconstitutional or may be in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . Potential Charter violations includes federal mandatory vaccination policies, the use of the Emergencies Act in freezing protesters' funds and in jail terms for

6110-483: The federal government. These conflicts resulted in various independence movements —notably in Quebec —as well as attempts by provinces to define their authorities for themselves. In the bill's third reading just before it was passed in the legislature, Premier Smith explained the justification for the "reset" in the provincial-federal relationship: "It's not like Ottawa is a national government. The way our country works

6204-510: The fight for their rights to land and resources and moving them away from a sustainable future". Bearspaw First Nation 's chief said that the province had not entered into any consultation with indigenous communities before proposing the sovereignty act. A statement released by Treaty 8 chiefs to Premier Smith, said that Treaties are the "exclusive reason of which Canada, and all the Provinces and Territories exist today" and that with this bill,

6298-408: The general elections to fill seats left vacant by death or resignation. In each election (so far) a single party has taken a majority of the seats, although sometimes it does this after receiving less than half the votes cast. Alberta's politics has historically been one of long-lasting governments with government changes being few and far between. For the first 16 years Alberta was a province it had

6392-634: The government of Alberta was acting in "dishonour of Treaty No. 8." In response to an APTN News request for a response to the November 18 press conference and releases, Premier Smith said that she will be booking meetings with Treaty chiefs to discuss the act. In statements released after Bill 1 was introduced, Treaty 6 chiefs said the sovereignty act could potentially apply to any federal law including treaties, which are "international agreements" that "take legal precedence over provincial and federal law". The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations said that

6486-468: The government passed a time allocation motion to force a vote on third reading. Third reading was passed with 27 for, 7 against. The Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act received royal assent from Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Salma Lakhani on December 15. The Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act is intended to prevent instances of alleged overreach by the federal government. Legislation and programs that have been viewed by

6580-421: The government's own business activities. Alberta is the only province in Canada without a provincial sales tax (see also Sales taxes in Canada ). Alberta has a single-tier system of municipal government similar to that of most of the other provinces. Charles III , King of Canada, is also the sovereign for Alberta's provincial jurisdiction. Within Canada, the monarch exercises power individually on behalf of

6674-450: The law, a section confirming that the Crown is bound by the act , a provision on immunity, another on a potential judicial review , and finally regulation authority. The act compels "provincial entities" to follow directives issued by Executive Council, which may include defying or ignoring federal laws deemed to harm Alberta, be unconstitutional or to be in violation of the Charter. While

6768-497: The organizers; federal censorship of Alberta-based news media, and the "mandatory participation by Albertans or information sharing by provincial agencies of Albertans’ personal data for the purpose of a Federal digital identification program". Included in the list of federal policies that she considered to be unconstitutional, are Bill C-69—which former Premier Jason Kenney referred to as the "No New Pipelines Act"; fertilizer reduction requirements; emissions and production reductions in

6862-407: The other parties were under-represented. When Liberals were in power in the Legislative Assembly, most of the province's MPs were Liberal. The 1917 election was an exception - The Union government's use of the soldier vote meant that Liberal candidates with majority support among voters voting in the riding were not declared elected. Then when the United Farmers dominated from 1921 to 1935, most of

6956-425: The park area. The Caribou Mountains is home to many arctic birds that breed nowhere else in Alberta including Red-throated loon , Red-necked phalarope , Grey-cheeked thrush , American tree sparrow , and Red-breasted merganser . This Alberta protected areas related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Alberta Government The politics of Alberta are centred on

7050-533: The party maintained its power provincially and its hold on most of the federal seats until the 1970s. Alberta's conservative leaning was pronounced on the federal level. The province was the heartland of the Reform Party of Canada and its successor, the Canadian Alliance . These parties were the second-largest political parties in the federal Parliament from 1997 to 2003 and they were located on

7144-629: The political right. The Canadian Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservative Party to form today's Conservative Party of Canada . The Conservatives' former leader and ex– Prime Minister Stephen Harper , moved to Alberta in the 1980s and represented a Calgary riding; Rona Ambrose , the party's interim leader and Leader of the Opposition (2015–17), is also an Albertan. Alberta elected no Liberal MP 1958-1963, 1965-1968, 1972-1993, 2006-2015, 2019 to 2021. In 2021 it elected one in Edmonton and one in Calgary. In 2021 it received 15.5 percent of

7238-438: The previous election (2004) Klein's PC party had taken less than half the votes cast in the province but had won 75 percent of the seats. Left wing Edmonton was an exception to the province's post–Second World War conservative voting pattern, earning it the nickname "Redmonton". Edmonton city residents, to a larger extent than elsewhere, tend to vote for the Liberal Party of Alberta and Alberta New Democrats . Their preferences

7332-528: The project from the jurisdiction of the federal Impact Assessment Act . Another example would be to compel Alberta's credit unions to not comply with any future injunction of the Emergencies Act to freeze protesters' accounts. The rationale for the act is that Alberta in particular is considered unfairly treated by the rest of Canada, due to programs like the equalization payments that fund provinces with lower GDPs and environmental initiatives like

7426-464: The proposed legislation at a November 18 news conference held in Edmonton. Chief Tony Alexis of Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation , said that the Treaties are "international agreement[s] and the highest law to govern the land, resources, and our Peoples" on unceded territories. He added that, the proposed bill could potentially grant Alberta the right to "extract resources at an unprotected rate, exacerbating

7520-549: The province to conservative politics. This was the only election in Alberta history to dethrone an incumbent government after only a single term. However, the UCP received just 54 percent of the vote, the first-past-the-post system inflating the avalanche of switched seats and exaggerating the appearance of the party's popularity. In the 2023 general election , the UCP won another majority but by smaller margins - UCP 49 seats, NDP 38 seats; UCP 53 percent of votes, NDP 44 percent of votes cast overall. When first MPs were elected in what

7614-528: The province was governed by right of centre parties. The Socreds were succeeded in 1971 by the Progressive Conservatives . Ralph Klein was premier of Alberta from 1992 to 2006 and despite multiple controversies, he remained the leader of the Progressive Conservative party and thus the province although only 55 percent of delegates from his party signified their approval of his leadership on the spring of 2006, pushing him into retirement. In

7708-419: The province's constitutional authority, and affirmed the authority of the lieutenant governor to reserve royal assent. The Supreme Court in responding to questions posed by the government of Alberta confirmed the validity of reservation, with the court unanimously confirming the powers were still in operation and exercisable. Justice Albert Hudson wrote "there is no room for serious argument" that reservation

7802-467: The province. However, the NDP won the seat of Edmonton—Strathcona in the election of 2008 , denying the Conservatives a sweep of the province in this election. No Alberta seats changed parties in the 2011 election , in which the Conservatives went from a minority government to a parliamentary majority. In all three elections, many of the Conservative candidates were elected with large majorities of

7896-590: The threatened woodland caribou herd. A small number of wood buffalo is also present in the south-eastern part of the park. The Caribou Mountains reach an elevation of 1,030 m, almost 700 m higher than the surrounding area, and have a unique environment. The park is located in the hydrographic basin of the Great Slave Lake and that of the Peace River . Yates River, Whitesand River, Buffalo River, Wentzel River, Wentzel Lake and Margaret Lake are found in

7990-609: The vote. Alberta has for decades been considered a conservative fortress, no matter which right-of-centre party they may have chosen to support. Albertans followed strong support for the Progressive Conservatives in the 1980s with the same degree of support for the Reform Party, and the Canadian Alliance in the 1990s, finally delivering a clean sweep for the new Conservative Party of Canada only

8084-417: The whole immediately after it had passed second reading, where the government proposed an amendment to remove the provisions in the bill that would have granted the cabinet unilateral powers to change laws or enact measures. The government then passed a time allocation motion on December 7 to force a vote on the amendment. The amendment was passed with 27 for, 12 against. Immediately after it had completed

8178-505: Was broken in 2015 when the Alberta New Democratic Party formed government for the first time, and Rachel Notley became Alberta's 17th premier. The NDP won 54 of Alberta's 87 seats. The 2019 general election saw Jason Kenney and his new United Conservative Party (a merger of the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties) sweep to power. The UCP won 63 of 87 seats in the Alberta legislature, returning

8272-492: Was brought in -- Single transferable voting proportional representation in the cities and Instant-runoff voting outside the cities. The UFA lost all its seats in 1935 when William Aberhart 's Social Credit party (Socred) was elected on a radical monetary reform platform. After Aberhart's death in 1943 and changing economic conditions, the Socred government moved to the right under Premier Ernest Manning . For over 80 years,

8366-401: Was no longer a valid power. In a December 8 interview with Cooper as his guest on The Current , host Matt Galloway described Cooper as in "many ways the architect" of the act. Cooper, told Galloway that if Canada does not change the Constitution, the next option would be an Alberta independence referendum in reference to the 1980 and 1995 Quebec referendums . During Question Period in

8460-544: Was passed in a recorded division , as the opposition Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) voted against the first reading of Bill 1. A recorded division of the assembly is a rare occurrence for a first reading in a Westminster system . The government moved second reading of Bill 1 on November 30. Several NDP MLAs attempted to filibuster passage of second reading, with Deron Bilous and Nicole Goehring both moving reasoned amendments, in Canadian legislative bodies, if

8554-510: Was proposing. By November 30, three of them—Brian Jean, Travis Toews and Rajan Sawhney—with ministerial posts in Premier Smith's cabinet—were ready to vote in favour of the bill because Smith had responded to their concerns, including the "separatism aspect". Opposition leader Rachel Notley described the act as a "thoughtless legal collection of mumbo jumbo...[that] creates nothing but uncertainty—and through that: economic uncertainty—at

8648-420: Was the cornerstone of the policy document called the "Free Alberta Strategy", which has been described as the act's "unofficial blueprint". The 50-page September 28, 2021 document was co-authored by former Wild Rose Party MLA and lawyer Rob Anderson , University of Calgary 's political scientist, Barry Cooper , and constitutional lawyer, Derek From. It was described by it its authors as a joint initiative with

8742-414: Was through the courts that disagreements between the federal and provincial governments can be settled. A December 25 New York Times article said that the act "radically circumscribes federal authority, advancing the agenda of the province's far-right secessionist movement." Premier Smith's statement that Ottawa was not a "national government" was "widely disputed by constitutional experts", according to

8836-415: Was used. Many of the opposition parties today include electoral reform in their policies. In its history, Alberta has seen only six distinct governments, with no party ever returning to form government under the same label again after defeat. (The UFA government of 1921-1935 can be seen as a precursor of the NDP government of 2015-2019 as it organizationally was its forerunner. The present UCP government

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