Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Nov. 30 he’s paying close attention to the sovereignty bill tabled in Alberta this week and that all options are on the table, while also qualifying he doesn’t want to clash with the province.
“I’m not going to take anything off the table but I’m also not looking for a fight.”
The bill seeks to defend the interests of Alberta and protect the province from what it sees as federal overreach within its sphere of jurisdiction.
Smith said those areas include firearms, energy, natural resources, healthcare pertaining to COVID-19, and agriculture.
Trudeau addressed indirectly some contentious issues he has with the province and said his government would go ahead as planned with its agenda.
“Our focus remains on making sure that Albertans get affordable childcare, and making sure that Albertans are part of a growing cleaner economy that are going to create good jobs and protect our environment for years to come,” he said.
Trudeau said making communities safer includes “banning military style assault weapons” and “these are things that we know Albertans care about, and we’re gonna stay focused.”
The prime minister also said Bill 1 would give “exceptional powers” to the Alberta government to bypass the legislature, “causing a lot of eyebrows to raise in Alberta.”
“The rationale for this process is simply to allow the legislative assembly a tool to act swiftly and efficiently in protecting Albertans from federal initiatives that violate the constitutional or charter rights of Albertans or which otherwise harm the interests of Albertans,” says the statement.