Alberta
Alberta bill in the works protects healthcare workers, hospices from having to offer euthanasia
From LifeSiteNews
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, the leader of the UCP, had earlier promised that the province’s Bill of Rights would be amended this fall to add protections for people’s personal medical decisions that most likely will include the right to refuse a vaccine.
A piece of provincial legislation that would enact a new Alberta “Bill of Rights” includes a section ensuring all provincial healthcare workers along with hospices have the right to refuse to be complicit in offering euthanasia to patients.
LifeSiteNews was recently provided exclusive access to a draft version of the “Alberta Bill of Rights” from a source well connected with the ruling United Conservative Party (UCP).
The provisions protecting healthcare workers from being forced to participate in state-sanctioned medical assistance in dying, or MAiD as it is known, is written under a section called “Freedom of informed consent and to make personal health decisions, including to refuse vaccinations, medical or surgical procedures.”
“Individuals’ healthcare personal choices and safety are further secured by the separation of health care and death care,” the draft text states.
“Whereas: individual healthcare workers and private hospice facilities have the rights to freedom of conscience when deciding whether to recommend or participate in prescribing or providing medical assistance in dying.”
It is expected that the UCP government in Alberta will introduce its new “Bill of Rights” this fall. The draft of the bill contains a slew of pro-freedom proposals, including, as reported by LifeSiteNews, enshrining the “right to life” into law, including from “conception, gestation in the womb.” It also includes, as reported by LifeSiteNews, a section that guarantees each citizen has the “right” to medical “informed consent” as well as the “right” to “refuse vaccinations.”
The UCP source told LifeSiteNews that the draft version of the bill is subject to change. However, the hope from those who worked on it is that the definitive version will not include many changes.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, the leader of the UCP, had earlier promised that the province’s Bill of Rights would be amended this fall to add protections for people’s personal medical decisions that most likely will include the right to refuse a vaccine. Her exact position on MAiD is not clear, but she appears to support healthcare workers’ right to freedom of conscience.
The draft version of the Alberta Bill of Rights was created by a “small group writing it in secret and consulting with lawyers” as well as elected MLAs and cabinet members of the UCP government, according to the source within the UCP.
When it comes to MAiD, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government sought to expand it from the chronically and terminally ill to those suffering solely from mental illness.
However, in February, after pushback from pro-life, medical, and mental health groups as well as most of Canada’s provinces, the federal government delayed the mental illness expansion until 2027.
The number of Canadians killed by lethal injection since 2016 stands at close to 65,000, with an estimated 16,000 deaths in 2023 alone. Many fear that because the official statistics are manipulated the number may be even higher.
Premier Danielle Smith issued the following statement on the April 2, 2025 U.S. tariff announcement:
“Today was an important win for Canada and Alberta, as it appears the United States has decided to uphold the majority of the free trade agreement (CUSMA) between our two nations. It also appears this will continue to be the case until after the Canadian federal election has concluded and the newly elected Canadian government is able to renegotiate CUSMA with the U.S. administration.
“This is precisely what I have been advocating for from the U.S. administration for months.
“It means that the majority of goods sold into the United States from Canada will have no tariffs applied to them, including zero per cent tariffs on energy, minerals, agricultural products, uranium, seafood, potash and host of other Canadian goods.
“There is still work to be done, of course. Unfortunately, tariffs previously announced by the United States on Canadian automobiles, steel and aluminum have not been removed. The efforts of premiers and the federal government should therefore shift towards removing or significantly reducing these remaining tariffs as we go forward and ensuring affected workers across Canada are generously supported until the situation is resolved.
“I again call on all involved in our national advocacy efforts to focus on diplomacy and persuasion while avoiding unnecessary escalation. Clearly, this strategy has been the most effective to this point.
“As it appears the worst of this tariff dispute is behind us (though there is still work to be done), it is my sincere hope that we, as Canadians, can abandon the disastrous policies that have made Canada vulnerable to and overly dependent on the United States, fast-track national resource corridors, get out of the way of provincial resource development and turn our country into an independent economic juggernaut and energy superpower.”
From the Fraser Institute
By any measure, Alberta is an energy powerhouse—within Canada, but also on a global scale. In 2023, it produced 85 per cent of Canada’s oil and three-fifths of the country’s natural gas. Most of Canada’s oil reserves are in Alberta, along with a majority of natural gas reserves. Alberta is the beating heart of the Canadian energy economy. And energy, in turn, accounts for one-quarter of Canada’s international exports.
Consider some key facts about the province’s energy landscape, as noted in the Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER) 2023 annual report. Oil and natural gas production continued to rise (on a volume basis) in 2023, on the heels of steady increases over the preceding half decade. However, the dollar value of Alberta’s oil and gas production fell in 2023, as the surging prices recorded in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine retreated. Capital spending in the province’s energy sector reached $30 billion in 2023, making it the leading driver of private-sector investment. And completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project has opened new offshore export avenues for Canada’s oil industry and should boost Alberta’s energy production and exports going forward.
In a world striving to address climate change, Alberta’s hydrocarbon-heavy energy sector faces challenges. At some point, the world may start to consume less oil and, later, less natural gas (in absolute terms). But such “peak” consumption hasn’t arrived yet, nor does it appear imminent. While the demand for certain refined petroleum products is trending down in some advanced economies, particularly in Europe, we should take a broader global perspective when assessing energy demand and supply trends.
Looking at the worldwide picture, Goldman Sachs’ 2024 global energy forecast predicts that “oil usage will increase through 2034” thanks to strong demand in emerging markets and growing production of petrochemicals that depend on oil as the principal feedstock. Global demand for natural gas (including LNG) will also continue to increase, particularly since natural gas is the least carbon-intensive fossil fuel and more of it is being traded in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Against this backdrop, there are reasons to be optimistic about the prospects for Alberta’s energy sector, particularly if the federal government dials back some of the economically destructive energy and climate policies adopted by the last government. According to the AER’s “base case” forecast, overall energy output will expand over the next 10 years. Oilsands output is projected to grow modestly; natural gas production will also rise, in part due to greater demand for Alberta’s upstream gas from LNG operators in British Columbia.
The AER’s forecast also points to a positive trajectory for capital spending across the province’s energy sector. The agency sees annual investment rising from almost $30 billion to $40 billion by 2033. Most of this takes place in the oil and gas industry, but “emerging” energy resources and projects aimed at climate mitigation are expected to represent a bigger slice of energy-related capital spending going forward.
Like many other oil and gas producing jurisdictions, Alberta must navigate the bumpy journey to a lower-carbon future. But the world is set to remain dependent on fossil fuels for decades to come. This suggests the energy sector will continue to underpin not only the Alberta economy but also Canada’s export portfolio for the foreseeable future.
Jock Finlayson
Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute
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