They Were Wrong, You Were Right

It's sometimes easy to forget just how ridiculous the discourse was at the time, especially now that the NDP in British Columbia, the Saskatchewan Party *and* the NDP in Saskatchewan, and multiple parties in Quebec have copied many of our ideas, and the world didn't end.

For years, Ottawa has been intolerant of Alberta's interests.

Successive federal governments relentlessly attacked our province’s economic interests, stifled our prosperity, and exploited the resources and wealth of our citizens. 

That is why we launched the Free Alberta Strategy, and why it gained such significant support.

Ottawa's anti-Alberta agenda had gone too far, posing an existential threat to our province’s economic viability and the core freedoms of our people.

We knew drastic steps were needed to defend Alberta’s interests, and Albertans knew it too.

But, now, almost three years later, we think it's worthwhile to look back on where we were, and take a moment to appreciate just how far we've come.

When we launched the Free Alberta Strategy in late September 2021, it immediately touched a nerve with the chattering classes.

University of Calgary political scientist Lisa Young claimed:

“Let’s be clear, the ‘strategy’ calls for insurrection ... Overthrow of the Canadian government and rule of law on Alberta soil.”

National Post columnist Chris Selley dismissed the plan as:

“Reminiscent of Michael Scott on The Office declaring bankruptcy by simply shouting ‘I declare bankruptcy!’”

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But. despite the flippant and dismissive commentary from the "elites", the ideas in the Free Alberta Strategy quickly caught the attention of regular Albertans.

Thousands and thousands of Albertans put their name to our petition, signed up to volunteer, made a donation, helped spread the word on social media, and/or attended virtual and in-person events across the province.

The frustration among Albertans was palpable, and it stemmed from Ottawa’s determination to violate provincial autonomy with its aggressive climate agenda, aiming to shut down industries fundamental to our province’s financial welfare.

As we talked with Albertans, the Sovereignty Act - a policy that we wrote as part of the wider Free Alberta Strategy - emerged as a symbol of the action people wanted the Alberta government to take.

It was designed as a tool to give the Province the ability to ignore the implementation of federal laws that clearly violate provincial jurisdiction and therefore the constitution.

(It was never designed to nullify or neutralize federal laws that are constitutional, simply because the Alberta government didn't like it - but more on this misconception later.)

A few months after our launch, Premier Jason Kenney resigned.

Many factors, decisions, and events led to his resignation, but a frustration amongst Albertans over a lack of action on constitutional issues was at least one of them.

In the ensuing UCP leadership race, the Sovereignty Act emerged as the most significant topic of debate and discussion.

Multiple candidates supported several parts of the Free Alberta Strategy, while Danielle Smith - who fully endorsed it and promised to make the Sovereignty Act her first piece of legislation - ended up winning the race and becoming the new Premier of Alberta.

Still, despite this almost total victory for our ideas, many “insiders” warned her new government against actually implementing them.

(Democracy be damned, right?)

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When Premier Smith made it clear she intended to follow through and pass the Sovereignty Act, the so-called "experts" became more and more hostile, ramping up their rhetoric.

Political scientist Emmett Macfarlane of the University of Waterloo said:

“What Danielle Smith is advancing is an unconstitutional affront to the separation of powers, the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, the powers of the [lieutenant governor], and democracy itself. It cannot stand.”

“Perhaps the most blatantly unconstitutional pile of crap ever introduced in a legislature in modern Canadian history.”

Carissima Mathen, a law professor at the University of Ottawa said:

"There is manifestly no basis under the Constitution for a province to try and nullify the effect of a federal law because it thinks … it is causing harm to those people in the province." 

Eric Adams, a constitutional scholar at the University of Alberta said:

"[The bill] fundamentally upends a number of stabilizing principles in our Canadian constitutional order."

Martin Olszynski, an associate professor at the University of Calgary’s faculty of law, said:

"It's totally unconstitutional."

"It is completely, totally incompatible with both our constitution, and also with just our basic form of government." 

David Schneiderman, a University of Toronto law professor, even played the race card, claiming that Alberta wanting the federal government to follow the constitution amounts to racism.

"Southern states talked about interposition and blocking the enforcement of federal law."

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Next, the commentators jumped in, referencing the experts, without actually checking for themselves whether what the "experts" were saying made any sense.

Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt called it:

"Ludicrous ... there is a consensus among experts that the Sovereignty Act is unconstitutional, would violate the rule of law, and plunge Alberta and Canada into a constitutional crisis.”

Calgary Chamber of Commerce president Deborah Yedlin claimed:

"This is not going to set the table for people to look at Alberta as a place to invest or necessarily to come and find economic opportunities."

"We see this as potentially introducing a very significant element of risk and uncertainty for businesses in Alberta." 

Even Jason Kenney, who at the time had already announced his departure but was technically still Premier at the time, called the plan:

“Risky, dangerous, half-baked”

He said that the Sovereignty Act would:

"establish Alberta as a banana republic.”

And that efforts to ensure the federal government followed the Constitution were basically separatism:

“The so-called sovereignty act would effectively take us to the brink of separation from the Canadian federation, would shred the rule of law and would do devastating damage to jobs, the economy and the prospect of pipelines.”

This despite the fact that all the evidence shows that when the federal government follows the rules, separatist tensions actually reduce.

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And yet, all the "experts", "commentators", "elites", and "insiders" were wrong.

The Alberta Sovereignty Act became Bill 1 of the Smith administration, tabled on day one of her first legislative session as Premier.

Later that year, it became law.

The next spring, Smith and the United Conservative Party defeated Rachel Notley and the NDP in the Alberta general election, returning to power with a majority government.

The Alberta economy is booming, our economy is outperforming the national average by a wide margin, and people, businesses, and investment are fleeing other provinces to flock to Alberta in record numbers.

And, you might be wondering whatever happened to all constitutional crises we were promised?

Nothing.

Zero.

When it came down to it, the Act's opponents didn't even *challenge* its constitutionality in court, never mind, win.

The "experts", "commentators", "elites", and "insiders" were wrong.

Albertans were right.

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The obvious next question is: how?

How were all the experts so wrong?

Well, there were a few key mistakes all our opponents made:

1) They didn't take the time to understand our proposal for themselves - they relied on what the NDP claimed we were proposing.

2) They didn't take the time to understand Canada's constitution, and the separation of federal and provincial jurisdiction it creates.

3) They didn't take the time to understand the a difference between suggesting Alberta ignore the Constitution, and suggesting that Alberta ignore the federal government when the federal government ignores the Constitution. That's actually a proposal to maintain constitutional norms.

4) They didn't take the time to understand just how sick and tired Albertans were of being controlled by Ottawa.

The federal government has fundamentally upended the stabilizing principles of the constitution by ignoring provincial jurisdiction with a constitutional affront to the separation of powers, the principle of federalism.

Ottawa has ignored the constitution for years.

Finally, people were ready to do something about it.

Together, we fought through the criticisms.

We persevered to defend The Free Alberta Strategy as a way to keep the federal government in its lane - thereby maintaining constitutional order by properly defending provincial jurisdiction 

And we proved that standing up for Alberta’s sovereignty can yield remarkable results.

But the fight is far from over. 

Ottawa's interference remains a threat to our autonomy and prosperity. 

We must continue to defend our province’s interests and ensure that the federal government respects our constitutional rights.

The Free Alberta Strategy is not just a policy; it is a movement.

A movement to preserve our economic freedom, protect our resources, and secure a prosperous future for all Albertans. 

And we need your support to keep this momentum going.

We need you to join us in this critical fight. 

Stand with us as we push back against federal overreach and safeguard the rights and freedoms of our province. 

If you appreciate all the progress we've made together, and you want to help us keep going, please give generously to support our ongoing work at the Free Alberta Strategy.

Together, we can ensure a strong, sovereign Alberta for generations to come:

Regards,

The Free Alberta Strategy Team