The Lavigne Show | Tea & Coffee with Paula & Jay featuring special guest Professor Bruce Pardy: The province’s new Justice Statutes Amendment Act, known as Bill 14, if passed would repeal a contentious section of Alberta’s Citizens Initiative Act, removing a significant court obstacle to independence.
The bill, while seemingly positive, contains troubling provisions that grant the government increased control over referendum questions, shifting power away from the courts and the Chief Electoral Officer to Justice Minister Mickey Amery, who is also the attorney general, to modify them at will. Amery introduced Bill 14 to Alberta’s political and legal landscape on Dec. 4.
Prof. Pardy highlights three central concerns with the proposed bill including its effective silencing of discussion on the future of Aboriginal rights in the context of independence. While the government would be able to sidestep constitutional challenges related to independence, it simultaneously restricts Albertans from expressing their views on critical issues, leaving Prof. Pardy to conclude: “We are still in a conundrum regarding where this government stands on Alberta independence.”
The discussion also explores Canada’s single-payer healthcare system. Prof. Pardy contends that its elimination is a bare necessity for an independent Alberta: “Whenever you have government services, regardless of what they are, funded by tax dollars in the public interest, that’s socialism….If you’re determined to keep what you have, this claim that you want to be free is really not true.”
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See Also:
Alberta Separatist Pushes for End of Indigenous Rights at ‘Unity’ Conference
In an Independent Alberta, Aboriginal Rights Should Not Exist