Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called on federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to promise further free speech and other rights protections at the national level as her government prepares to amend the Alberta Bill of Rights.
Smith encouraged Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to amend the Canadian Bill of Rights to strengthen protections that may be missing in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“I think that we should stop looking at the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as the full, comprehensive expression of all rights and freedoms we are endowed with,” said Smith.
The premier said she believed Poilievre could make these amendments if he’s elected prime minister without having a huge constitutional discussion.
“I think we’re entering an era now where people are demanding that their governments respect them and not treat them the way they were treated during that terrible Covid era,” said Smith.
Smith made the comments at True North Nation in Calgary on Saturday.
Counsel with the Canadian Constitution Foundation, Josh Dehaas, told True North that the Canadian Bill of Rights can be amended without going through a constitutional amendment process. However, he said that future governments could just as easily undo amendments by using the normal statute procedure: the passage of a bill in the House of Commons, the Senate, and Royal Assent.
The Canadian Bill of Rights’ main purpose is to restrict Parliament from enacting laws contrary to its provisions unless Parliament is willing to repeal the act or use the notwithstanding clause, said Dehaas.
“Expanding the Bill of Rights to include something like protection against vaccine mandates could have value in the sense that a future government would need to explicitly say in legislation that they’re going ahead with the vaccine mandate notwithstanding the fact that such a mandate may not comply with the Bill of Rights,” said Dehaas.
He added that, at the very least, the added vaccine protections in the Bill would slow them down because the government would need unanimous consent to pass the bill or go through three readings, meaning the Bill of Rights would be more useful in emergencies.
“The Bill of Rights could also be used to reinforce a culture of individual freedoms since Canadians would have a document to point to that clearly states that they hold this right, rather than trying to rely on parts of the Charter like Section 7 (Life, Liberty, and Security of the person) that don’t explicitly specify that people have a right not to be coerced into taking vaccines,” added Dehaas.
Smith’s comments come ahead of Alberta’s introduction of amendments to the Alberta Bill of Rights, which she described as an effort to modernize the 1972 legislation and better reflect the needs of Albertans. The changes include enshrining the right to refuse vaccines, strengthening property rights, and affirming the right to own and use firearms legally.
“These amendments to the Alberta Bill of Rights are not just legal changes. They are a reaffirmation of the values that make Alberta one of the freest jurisdictions on Earth,” said Smith.
The first amendments to the law passed their first reading on Monday.
Smith explained that the Alberta Bill of Rights amendments intend to add consequences for bureaucrats and officials who violate the rights, which she said would reduce the likelihood of them being violated.
Dehaas said the federal government could similarly amend the Canadian Bill of Rights to clarify that nobody can be coerced into taking a vaccine. Such an amendment would mean that no laws could be passed that allow for vaccine mandates in areas of federal jurisdiction like air, rail, and interprovincial ferry travel. Nor would they be able to be passed in federally regulated workplaces like banks or the public service.
True North reached out to Poilievre for comment but received no reply.
