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Call it the Sovereignty Act edition of the “Scrap the Cap” campaign.
Alberta’s UCP government is bringing a motion to the legislature that argues Ottawa’s proposed cap on oil and gas emissions is unconstitutional.
“We’re fighting back with every weapon in our arsenal,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Tuesday. “The Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act was designed to protect our province from unconstitutional interference, and now we’re going to use it again.”
READ MORE: ‘I’m pissed’: Premier Smith fumes over feds’ planned emissions caps
Smith says the federal cap would cripple Alberta’s oil and gas economy and the province has a constitutional right to develop its resources.
Alberta already bought $7 million worth of ads demanding the cap be scrapped – a campaign aimed at informing Canadians about the negative ramifications of the proposed cap, which Smith has claimed is “ideological” and “irresponsible.”
Now the UCP will use its Sovereignty Act to push back against what the governing UCP says is a production cap on the province’s oil and gas sector. The Alberta premier says any of the suggested changes would first need approval by a majority vote in the legislature.
This is the second use of the Sovereignty Act. The first happened about a year ago to fight Ottawa’s plan for a net-zero electricity grid by 2035.
“Well look, they’ve pushed us to the limit,” Smith explained. “We’ve been trying to negotiate with them now ever since the moment I’ve had my first conversation with Justin Trudeau where I told him that we want to align on their objectives to meet carbon neutrality by 2050.”
Premier Smith’s motion plans to include a legal challenge to the cap, passing legislation to give the province exclusive authority over emissions data and banning federal employees from designated oil and gas facilities.
WATCH: Alberta premier pushes back against Ottawa’s plans to cap oil and gas emissions
The NDP is arguing the Sovereignty Act is nothing more than an expensive stunt. Instead, Leader Naheed Nenshi suggests Alberta work with Ottawa to make a deal on emissions, rather than hiring more lawyers and fighting just to fight.
“The Sovereignty Act accomplishes nothing,” Nenshi said. “We’re still in the same court cases, we’re still hiring the same lawyers, we’re just sitting on the other side of the courtroom. It’s the absolute epitome of doing nothing, when there’s very serious issues going on.”
Dispute destined for the courts?
Law professor Eric Adams says there are still a lot unknowns around the Sovereignty Act because it has not been tested in court.
But Adams says if Alberta declares federal laws invalid, or orders provincial entities to ignore them, the dispute could end up in front of a judge – with the province a clear underdog.
“You have a conflict of laws that courts will almost always resolve in favour of the federal law,” the University of Alberta professor told CityNews. “That’s how our constitutional system works. So we’ll have to wait and see.”
The federal Liberals have argued their emissions cap is a reasonable plan to clean up the oil and gas sector, and it aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about one-third over the next eight years.
Ottawa says Alberta is lying by calling it a cap on production, adding the “Scrap the Cap campaign” is a waste of money.