Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives to a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. Trudeau says nothing is off the table when it comes to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's new sovereignty act. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says nothing is off the table when it comes to responding to new legislation that would give Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s government broad powers.
Trudeau stopped briefly on his way into a Liberal caucus meeting to say he’s not looking for a fight with the province, but that the new legislation is raising eyebrows even in Alberta.
The bill, called the Alberta sovereignty within a united Canada act, proposes to give Smith’s cabinet the power to rewrite provincial laws without legislative debate.
Trudeau says he will be taking a closer look at the legislation, but that some in the province are already “expressing real concern about the fact that the Alberta government is choosing the bypass the legislature.”
He says he will watch to see how the issue plays out and the implications it carries, but won’t take anything off the table.
Smith promised to bring in the legislation during the United Conservative Party leadership race to replace former premier Jason Kenney, and she characterized the bill as a way to push back against Ottawa.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2022.
