Alberta
“Federal agency treated ‘Red Deer’ family in an unaccountable, heavy-handed way.” – MLA Jason Stephan
Submitted by Red Deer South MLA Jason Stephan
JASON STEPHAN: Conduct of airport detentions violate our fundamental freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the “supreme law of Canada”, recognizing in its preamble, the “supremacy of God and the rule of law”.
Under the Charter, everyone has the “Fundamental Freedoms” of conscience and religion, thought, belief, opinion and expression, peaceful assembly, and association.
Under the Charter, “every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada” and “to pursue the gaining of a livelihood in any province”.
This past weekend, the Public Health Agency of Canada forced a young man from Red Deer arriving from the U.S.A. at the Calgary International Airport into isolated quarantine. The young man had in his possession a negative COVID test result, obtained in good faith prior to departure, and was permitted for boarding, however, did not meet the agency’s particular requirements in landing.
All of this was unknown to the young man’s family, who had not seen him for almost two years, were so excited to see him, and were waiting at airport arrivals to take him home.
This federal agency treated the family in an unaccountable, heavy-handed way. The agency would not tell the young man or his family where he was being taken and for how long. The young man did not have a cell phone and the agency tried to prevent them from even seeing each other. This harshness was unnecessary. The young man’s mother stated that all of this “feels wrong”. She is correct.
The onus of proof is on government to justify limits on our Charter freedoms. Under the Charter, government is required to demonstrate “proportionality” between objectives and limits imposed to achieve them. That in turn, requires demonstration of a “rational connection” between the limit and the objective, and “minimal impairment” of no more than is necessary to accomplish the objective. These foundational Charter principles are to be applied with rigour to government health “measures” to ensure they are “reasonable” and “demonstrably justified”.
The WHO defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.
Instead of a societal state of “physical, mental and social well-being”, we are seeing increasing societal contention, disconnection, despair, and hopelessness. This is not healthy.
Principled approaches for every day activities are better than prescriptive approaches seeking to regulate the endless varieties of these activities. A principled approach that supports freedom, is less complex or vulnerable to contradiction.
A principled vision of hope is healthy, requiring government to trust adults to govern themselves, allowing them and their families more freedom to carry on the activities of daily living as they individually see fit, in a good faith respecting reasonable health measures and the rights of their neighbors to do the same.
Jason Stephan is the UCP MLA for Red Deer-South
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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