Premier Danielle Smith says she plans to reinforce the right to decide whether to receive a vaccination or other medical treatment in changes to the Alberta Bill of Rights.
In an online video posted Tuesday, Smith said her government is to soon introduce legislation amending the document to ensure the right to make informed medical decisions without fear of undue government pressure or interference. The legislature reconvenes in late October.
"It is my firm conviction that no Albertan should ever be subjected [to] or pressured into accepting a medical treatment without their full consent," she said.
The Alberta Bill of Rights only applies to matters under provincial authority.
Smith, speaking to right-wing online media outlet the Western Standard, said Tuesday she hopes if Alberta shows it "is not going to just go along with whatever edicts the federal government brings down," Ottawa "would be a lot more judicious in coming through with any type of policy like [vaccine mandates] again."
University of Calgary law professor Lorian Hardcastle said it's hard to know the impacts without seeing the amended legislation.
"I would say that it's worrisome," she said. "And we're less well prepared if we were to potentially go into another pandemic."
Hardcastle said the Alberta government already stripped itself of the authority to impose mandatory vaccinations during a public health emergency when it made changes to the Public Health Act during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It's unclear if employers could be prohibited from requiring employees to receive certain vaccinations, she added.
"What tools will we be potentially taking out of the hands of employers that work with vulnerable people or the like in terms of not being able to effectively respond to a public health emergency, or even just the public health status quo?"
Smith told the Western Standard that Ottawa could still impose vaccination requirements for federal workers, but her government has authority over provincially regulated workplaces.
Hardcastle added the proposal would likely clash with the United Conservative Party government's plan to introduce legislation giving police and family the authority to force drug users into treatment.
"Their new [addictions treatment] legislation could actually be subject to legal challenge under these changes to the Bill of Rights."
Other changes to the Bill of Rights outlined by Smith on Tuesday would also ensure the province respects "the right of individuals to legally acquire, keep and safely use firearms."
Smith said she believes law-abiding gun owners have been targeted by the federal government, and she hopes the changes will better protect farmers, ranchers, hunters and sports enthusiasts.
The legislation would also declare that Albertans can't be deprived of their property without due process of law and fair compensation, Smith said.
Eric Adams, a constitutional law professor at the University of Alberta, agreed it's too soon to tell what impacts the proposed changes may have.
"When there are legal issues surrounding legislation, it almost always goes straight through the Charter," Adams said. "And to some extent, the Alberta Bill of Rights has been the forgotten sibling."
Adams said the province's firearms law will not have much sway when matched up with federal legislation.
A draft version of a new Alberta Bill of Rights signed off on by the board of the UCP contains 21 rights, including the three Smith mentioned in her Tuesday video.
Adams said any new right put forward that goes beyond what is already covered by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms would lead into "new legal terrain in Alberta."
"You're articulating something fundamental about the province, about its judicial system, about the power of courts and about limits that are being imposed on governments," he said.
Adams added such an important change to Alberta's legal landscape should be subject to a "robust" engagement process that would determine the potential ramifications of each new right, especially during public health and safety emergencies.
"All of those questions and concerns I would think would want to be fully debated at a public level if the government is bringing forward extensive changes to the constitution of Alberta."
Smith swept into her leadership promising to address COVID-19 grievances, fired key public health officials who served during the pandemic soon after taking office and is now working to dismantle and replace the provincial health authority.
UCP members have been pushing Smith for the recognition of rights that go well beyond the Constitution and the Charter, including around guns, parental rights and taxes.
Smith's announcement comes as she faces a party leadership review in early November.
Alberta conservatives have been known to boot their own leaders from the top job, including former UCP premier Jason Kenney, who stepped down after winning tepid support in a leadership review.
Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi called Smith's comments desperate virtue signalling aimed at helping her leadership review.
In a news release, Nenshi said Smith's "constant playing to her base" ignores real priorities like access to critical services.
"[Albertans] 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. They care about our crumbling health care and education systems," he said.
Alberta’s United Conservative government plans to introduce legislation this fall that Premier Danielle Smith says will reaffirm the rights of gun owners and property owners in the province, and the right to bodily autonomy.
“In a few weeks time, our UCP government will be introducing legislation to amend and strengthen the Alberta Bill of Rights, a document that has stood as a safeguard for our civil liberties and freedoms for decades,” she said, as her message was accompanied by melodramatic background music.
“Since its inception, the Alberta Bill of Rights has been a reflection of our shared values, recognizing the fundamental rights and freedoms that are essential to a free and democratic society.
“It ensures all provincial laws and policies must align with those listed rights and freedoms.”
When asked if Smith’s announcement seems more political or legal, a law professor at the University of Alberta told Global News that one cannot “pull apart the law and the politics here.”
“They walk hand in hand, so it’s both of those things,” Eric Adams said. “Obviously, there is an attempt to change some aspects of some fundamental parts of the Alberta legal system by expanding the bill of rights. But they — in some ways — are pretty modest.”
Adams said it is important to note that the official wording of the coming legislation is not known yet, and that will give a clearer indication of what impact the proposed changes may or may not have.
Smith indicated plans for three different amendments to the bill of rights. It was not immediately clear how or if the amendments would materially impact Albertans or their rights.
She first spoke of reinforcing “the right of every Albertan to make their own choices regarding the medical treatments they receive.”
“This includes ensuring that every individual in our province who has the mental capacity to do so, will have the right to decide whether or not to receive a vaccination or other medical procedure,” Smith said. “In recent years, we’ve seen the challenges and hardship that can arise when that right to bodily autonomy is not adequately protected.
“No Albertan should ever be subjected or pressured into accepting a medical treatment without their full consent.”
While Smith did not say what prompted this planned amendment, she has been a staunch advocate for people who opposed vaccine passports during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another amendment Smith spoke of Tuesday was to ensure that “no Albertan can be deprived of their property without due process of law and just compensation.”
“This is a reaffirmation of your right to own and enjoy property that you’ve worked so hard for.”
Finally, Smith spoke of the rights of gun owners in Alberta, a group of people she said has been “unfairly targeted” by the federal government over the years, an accusation she made without detailing how she came to that conclusion.
“In Alberta, we respect the right of individuals to legally acquire, keep and safely use firearms.”
University of Calgary political science professor Lisa Young said she believes Smith’s primary audience right now is the UCP membership, and that these announcements are geared toward that group.
“She is facing a leadership review in early November, there is lots of talk that she might be in trouble, that people in the party are dissatisfied with the speed with which she has taken some actions, that it’s not the government that they were expecting. And so, we see a lot of efforts to communicate to the party base on issues that are of particular concern to them,” Smith said.
Young noted that Smith ran for the UCP leadership on the promise that she would do something to change the law to make sure people who were unvaccinated were not discriminated against, but hasn’t taken any specific action on that front since being elected.
“I think it would be difficult for her to face the party membership that had elected her, in part based on this promise, if she hadn’t done something,” Young said. “This really is something that is of far greater interest to the party base than to the typical Albertan.
“I don’t think that the general public is really all that focused on relitigating COVID, but certainly, supporters of the UCP inside the party are still very much focused on this issue.”
Adams said the province’s bill of rights is “charter-like” because it guides judges in telling them they potentially should not enforce laws that contradict the document.
“But keep in mind, it has one very important distinction: the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a constitutional document in the Constitution of Canada that controls all legislation in Canada — federal and provincial,” he said. “The Alberta Bill of Rights can only apply to laws within Alberta enacted by the Alberta legislature.
“So all federal laws, including all Criminal Code provisions, are not in any way touched upon by the Alberta Bill of Rights. The bill of rights can say nothing about valid federal laws, including valid federal laws in relation to firearms use or misuse. If the Criminal Code declares a particular weapon illegal, there’s nothing the Alberta Bill of Rights can do about that.
“Any valid federal law about guns will not be impacted in any way by the Alberta Bill of Rights.”
When asked about Smith’s mention of reaffirming bodily autonomy, Adams said he believes Smith was primarily referring to past policies used to incentivize vaccination against COVID-19.
“There were incentives, of course, during COVID to becoming vaccinated, but no one was vaccinated against their will,” he said. “It’s just that there were negative consequences. You might have your job implicated by taking or refusing to take a vaccine.
“So there will be some, I think, attention to how this protection for vaccination is worded, because it has always been the case in Canadian law that the government has not been able to compel medical treatments on individuals.”
Based on the wording in Tuesday’s video, Adams said Smith’s message suggests to him that the coming proposals to amend gun and property rights will likely have little impact on life in Alberta, aside from additional rights to compensation for property owners.
However, he said the message on medical freedoms has the potential to “have the most far-reaching impacts into Alberta life,” depending on how the legislation is worded.
“Because a number of health-care facilities require vaccination of various kinds in order to work in hospitals or to conduct surgeries,” Adams said. “So, for example, blood-borne illnesses — hepatitis and the like — have been largely eradicated within hospital settings because of vaccination programs for hospital workers.
“It’s a little bit unclear whether the premier’s announcing that all of those have to be scrapped. We will have to see the final wording when it’s available.”
NDP leader Naheed Nenshi called Smith’s proposed amendments to the bill of rights “nothing but desperate virtue signaling over issues that she thinks will help her leadership review.
“Canadians’ fundamental human rights are protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and this, or any provincial bill does not override this,” Nenshi said in a statement.
“The premier’s constant playing to her base isn’t just irritating, it has real consequences. For example, she’s focused on people who refuse to get a vaccine. She is not focused on parents who want the best care for their kids or for those struggling with mental health and addiction who continue to lack access to critical services.”
— with files from Global News’ Heather Yourex-West
Smith’s governing United Conservative Party will introduce the planned legislation including rights related to health and property when the provincial parliament resumes in November, she said today on her personal accounts on the X platform, YouTube, and other media.
Smith said today:
The amended Bill of Rights will also strengthen property rights, another cornerstone of living in a free and democratic society. The amendments will ensure that no Albertan can be deprived of their property without due process of law and and just compensation. This is a reaffirmation of your right to own and enjoy the property that you’ve worked so hard for.
There will also be an amendment to make clear that, in Alberta, we respect the right of individuals to legally acquire, keep, and safely use firearms. For many Albertans, firearms are critical to their livelihood and way of life.
I personally feel that law-abiding firearms owners have been unfairly targeted by our federal government for decades, and it is my hope that these amendments will better protect the rights of our farmers, ranchers, hunters, and sport enthusiasts going forward.
—Alberta Premier Danielle Smith
In a few weeks time, our UCP Government will be introducing legislation to amend and strengthen the Alberta Bill of Rights, a document that has stood as a safeguard for our civil liberties and freedoms for decades.These changes are a reaffirmation of the values that make… pic.twitter.com/5lQ5Mirbe3
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In an online video posted Tuesday, Smith said her government aims to amend the document in a few weeks to ensure people have the right to make informed decisions without fear of government pressure or interference.
“It is my firm conviction that no Albertan should ever be subjected (to) or pressured into accepting a medical treatment without their full consent,” she said.
The changes outlined by Smith would also ensure the province respects “the right of individuals to legally acquire, keep and safely use firearms.”
Smith says she believes law-abiding gun owners have been targeted by the federal government, and she hopes the changes will better protect farmers, ranchers, hunters and sports enthusiasts.
The legislation would also declare that Albertans can’t be deprived of their property without due process of law and fair compensation.
“This is a reaffirmation of your right to own and enjoy the property that you’ve worked so hard for,” said Smith.
United Conservative Party members have been pushing Smith for the recognition of rights that go well beyond the Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including around guns, parental rights and taxes.
Smith’s announcement comes as she faces a party leadership review in early November.
Alberta conservatives have been known to boot their own leaders from the top job, including former UCP premier Jason Kenney.
Alberta's health minister, Adriana LaGrange, told CTV News on Tuesday the vaccination amendment came from the Public Health Emergencies Governance Review Panel's final report.
"We heard very loud and clear through the Manning report that was done, after extensive engagement across the whole province that he was able to do as chair of the committee and with his whole committee, that people really wanted to make sure that they have that autonomy," LaGrange said.
"And so, that is where that came from."
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