Danielle Smith became the new premier of Alberta after winning the UCP leadership vote, and her proposed Alberta Sovereignty Act, an act that would allow Alberta to override Federal laws and rulings, was a key factor during her campaign.
The Sovereignty Act has been hotly contested by both UCP and NDP members alike, with former leadership candidate Brian Jean saying it’s a “fiscal fairy tale” that won’t work, while fellow candidate Rebecca Schultz called it the Anarchy Act, saying it’s “a false dream that will turn into a nightmare.”
NDP MLA for Calgary Mountain View and Energy Critic Kathleen Ganley says this act is “extremely problematic regardless of political stripe” because of the confusion it could create.
“The Sovereignty Act itself potentially generates a bunch of uncertainties. So it means that potentially, the provincial government is going to step in and pick and choose which federal laws it’s going to respect. That means companies and citizens and people out there in the world don’t know which laws they have to abide by and which ones they don’t and that creates legal processes and a lot of uncertainty and that all takes a lot of time,” she said.
Ganley said this uncertainty could hurt Albertans on a day-to-day basis, as law enforcement may not know which laws to enforce or not, and citizens may not know what’s in place versus what the provincial government decides to override. While this is definitely a concern, Ganley added investments are the biggest concern and what that could mean for our economy.
“Investment doesn’t like uncertainty, so that will drive that investment away. Investors will go elsewhere where there is greater certainty and where they know what the laws are. That’s the real problem, you wind up in a position where people can’t invest because they don’t know what the laws are.”
Alberta has recently been great for investment, with huge projects like the De Havilland aircraft facility coming to Wheatland County. Ganley said she can’t speak for how current investors would feel but says it creates a sense of risk for investors when considering where they’re putting their money.
“People invest their money on the basis that Alberta is a jurisdiction in which they know what the laws are. If they pass the Sovereignty act, that’s a big problem. Alberta is no longer a jurisdiction in which someone can book and know what the laws are.”
Ganley hopes the UCP and NDP can work together to prevent the Sovereignty Act from being passed, as several UCP members have already spoken against it.
“We asked for UCP members of the legislative assemblies to not just follow the orders they are being given by their new leader, but to go out to talk to the people around them and to talk to the business community and really understand just how problematic this is going to be for investment and then to vote in the best interest of Albertans.”
At the moment things are looking great for Alberta’s economy and investments, but if the Sovereignty Act goes through and all the concerns come to fruition, Ganley and others worry it’s possible Alberta could be headed back into an economic slump.
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