44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 9, 2023 10:00AM
- Feb/9/23 3:37:49 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am an Albertan and the use of the notwithstanding clause has been threatened and used in Alberta in the past under Ralph Klein.
As somebody who I expect recognizes that climate change is real and how important it is, does the member really want Danielle Smith to have the power to undermine our environmental protections, to do coal mining in the Rocky Mountains, to release water from tailings ponds that goes into the Northwest Territories? Is that really what she would like to see happen in our country?
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- Feb/9/23 3:38:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I often tell my hon. colleague that I believe she is a member of the wrong legislature.
I believe that if Albertans elect Danielle Smith as their premier, it is because they trust her. Democracy exists in her province as well. It is not up to Parliament, to the House of Commons to dictate what the provinces should do.
My colleague should campaign to beat Danielle Smith and elect a premier who will use these legislative and constitutional tools to serve the interests of the people of Alberta.
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- Feb/9/23 4:08:52 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, like the minister, I am very worried about the increasing use of the notwithstanding clause, and my focus will be on human rights.
In 2000, in Alberta, Ralph Klein tried to use the notwithstanding clause to take away the rights of the SOGI community to same-sex marriage. He was not successful because the Supreme Court was able to speak to that.
I wonder if the minister could talk a bit about some of the risks posed to individual human rights if people like Danielle Smith were given this tool to use more frequently.
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- Feb/9/23 4:28:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to start by saying on this side of the House, Conservatives believe in supporting provincial jurisdiction and provincial competences, and I am very proud to be an Albertan. In Alberta, Peter Lougheed was initially one of the big fighters for this clause to protect provincial rights.
Albertans have been exceptionally clear that they do not support a carbon tax, and yet the government has decided to overrule that time and time again and continue to push forward its ideas. The Liberals are the only ones provoking and stoking a constitutional crisis in this country.
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- Feb/9/23 4:55:27 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, what Ontario does is its own business and the same goes for Alberta.
We do not like the government's habit of wanting to stick its nose where it does not belong, so I am not going to start doing the same thing.
As I said before, today's debate was actually initiated by the Prime Minister. It is the Prime Minister himself who wants to go before the courts when we are dealing with inflation and people are struggling. It is the Prime Minister himself who started all this.
Today's debate is about the lack of courage of the Prime Minister, who is unable to look Canadians and Quebeckers in the eye, unable to talk openly about the Constitution and unable to do things properly.
The Prime Minister's father had his faults, but at least he had courage. Clearly, the Prime Minister did not inherit all of his father's qualities.
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- Feb/9/23 5:10:10 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, this Manitoba MP is quite something. He gets up and demands that I, as an Alberta MP, weigh in on Ontario provincial politics while the government avoids accountability for the issues it is responsible for.
It is the perfect example of the type of deflection that the government engages in. Do members know how many times I have been asked by constituents to weigh in on the Ford government? Zero.
My constituents do not send me to Ottawa to talk about what goes on in Queen's Park. They do not send him here to talk about that either.
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- Feb/9/23 5:12:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, earlier, my colleague mentioned that he did not want to talk about Ontario politics, certainly not with the member from Manitoba. Perhaps he would like to talk with an Alberta politician about politics in Alberta.
He thought this particular debate was painful because we were not talking about things that were so important to his constituents, my constituents and Canadians across the country.
Would he agree that, if this debate is not what Canadians want to hear, Albertans are probably not terribly interested in debating Danielle Smith's sovereignty act, which, again, is an overreach of the provincial government?
Could he comment on the sovereignty act and whether or not he supports that?
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- Feb/9/23 5:13:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there will be a provincial election soon in Alberta and I invite this member to contest that provincial election, because all she does is come here and raise issues about provincial politics.
This is the federal Parliament. Let us focus on federal issues and let this member run in the provincial election if she wants to debate Danielle Smith on the sovereignty act.
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