Smith called updating the Bill of Rights “an important step forward for our province”
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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.
“The Bill of Rights has served its purpose well over the years. But, as our society evolves, so too must our laws to ensure our rights and freedoms remain properly protected in an ever-changing world,” Smith said in a 3 1/2 minute long video posted from her personal YouTube account.
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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.
That list was endorsed by the party board and included 18 other rights and freedoms.
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.”
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1972 Alberta Bill of Rights limited
The Alberta Bill of Rights was introduced by then-premier Peter Lougheed in 1972 and enshrined “the right of the individual to liberty, security of the person and enjoyment of property, and the right not to be deprived thereof except by the due process of law,” along with freedoms of religion, speech, assembly, and of the press.
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.
Property rights in Alberta are also protected through the Alberta Personal Property Bill of Rights that was enacted in 1999.
‘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.”
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“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.”
Smith had previously pledged to overhaul the province’s human rights act to include vaccination status, but backed away from the plan in her first weeks as premier.
She is set to face a party leadership review on Nov. 2 in Red Deer.
mblack@postmedia.com
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