Quote:
(ii)causes or is anticipated to cause harm to Albertans on the
basis that it
(A)affects or interferes with an area of provincial
legislative jurisdiction under the Constitution of
Canada, or
(B)interferes with the rights and freedoms of one or more
Albertans under theCanadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms,
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I find B to be troublesome. Section 1 of the charter says
"1. The
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society."
So this bill is saying the Alberta government will now have to make a judgment call on Charter Rights, and which limits are reasonable or not. This is an attempt to circumvent Federal authority(and I can't help but think this is all related to covid restrictions, becuase of course it is) and I don't see how it can't cause a constitutional crisis. Any limits deemed not reasonable should be decided by the courts, not a provincial government. And by picking a side, they then breach the charter rights of Albertans who would be served by these reasonable limits. Is this not hugely problematic?