Smith called updating the Bill of Rights “an important step forward for our province”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith unveiled in an online video Tuesday morning what her office describes as the “key amendments” coming later this fall to the province’s Bill of Rights.
Smith called updating the Bill of Rights “an important step forward for our province” and listed the three changes as:
- The right to decide over vaccination and all medical decisions
- The right not to be deprived of property without legal due process and just compensation
- The right of individuals to legally acquire, keep, and safely use firearms
All three of those are alluded to in a draft of an updated Bill of Rights produced by a group of UCP activists in Medicine Hat.
Those include freedom from discrimination including upon the basis of diversity, inclusion, or equity; freedom from excessive taxation; and freedom to use sufficient force to defend person, family, home, and property.
It’s not clear if any of those 18 rights and freedoms will also be included in the updated Bill of Rights.
A statement from the premier’s office did not address that question, but said to expect the changes soon after MLAs return to the legislature on Oct. 28.
“These are the (three) key amendments being proposed to Alberta’s Bill of Rights. The legislation will be tabled and publicly available after the legislative assembly returns in October.”
1972 Alberta Bill of Rights limited
It also includes the right of parents to make informed decisions respecting the education of their children.
The bill applies to provincially-enacted legislation, and can be overridden by the legislature.
Unlike the 1982 Canadian Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Alberta Bill of Rights is not a constitutional document. It also lacks the balancing, or “reasonable limits,” clause found in the Charter.
‘Desperate virtue signalling’
In a statement, Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi noted that the Charter already protects fundamental rights, and that nothing in the forthcoming legislation will change that, and called the premier’s video “desperate virtue signalling.”
“The premier’s constant playing to her base isn’t just irritating, it has real consequences,” he stated, adding, “Albertans aren’t focused on these priorities.”
“They care about the cost of groceries in a province where inflation is consistently over the national average. They care about decent jobs in a province with the highest unemployment outside of Atlantic Canada.”
She is set to face a party leadership review on Nov. 2 in Red Deer.