The Sovereignty Act: Lougheed and Klein successfully dealt with Ottawa without resorting to extreme measures, so why does Smith?

Alberta fighting with Ottawa is as Albertan as an oil derrick, but if changes to laws are needed it should be done where Albertans can see it - not behind closed doors.

I’m Dave Cournoyer and this is the Daveberta Substack

Perhaps appropriately for the topic of today’s column, I’m in Ottawa right now. I’ve taken a few days to think about the new Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act and am happy to be able to share some thoughts about it below.

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TL;DR

If you don’t have time to read today’s column right away, here are some of my main points:

• Peter Lougheed and Ralph Klein famously stood up for Alberta’s interests without the powers Premier Danielle Smith is asking for in the Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act.

• The Sovereignty Act would allow cabinet ministers to change laws behind closed doors without legislative oversight.

• The provincial government fighting with Ottawa is as Albertan as an oil derrick, but if changes to laws are needed it should be done where Albertans can see it - not behind closed doors.

• Smith is trying to trick NDP leader Rachel Notley into being seen as supporting Ottawa over Alberta.

• It’s not even totally clear why Smith’s Sovereignty Act is needed.

Today’s column

The Sovereignty Act: Lougheed and Klein successfully dealt with Ottawa without resorting to extreme measures, so why does Smith?

Parliament Hill in Ottawa on December 1, 2022 (source: Dave Cournoyer)

Benjamin Franklin is crediting as saying that “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” I’d like to amend that slightly to say “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes, and Alberta government fighting with Ottawa.”

It has been 101 years since the United Farmers of Alberta swept the Liberal Party out of power in 1921, and every government in this province since has made a point of exerting provincial autonomy, whether it be through pure partisanship or actual government policy.

Premiers Herbert Greenfield and John Brownlee successfully advocated for the transfer of natural resource rights to the provinces. William Aberhart beat his chest over banking reform. Ernest Manning was a strident opponent of public medicare. Don Getty championed the Triple-E Senate. But the two premiers most widely recognized for standing up for Alberta’s interests on the national stage are Peter Lougheed and Ralph Klein.

They had very different styles. Lougheed was a nation-builder and Klein was a scrapper.