Alberta
Advocacy group urges change to recall and citizen initiated referendum legislation
News release from Project Confederation
Project Confederation has been actively engaged in advocating for fair and inclusive democratic mechanisms for citizen participation in policy decisions.
In 2020, I presented arguments in favour of citizen initiated referenda and recall legislation to the Select Special Democratic Accountability Committee, emphasizing the significance of citizen-initiated referenda as a crucial aspect of democratic governance.
Bill 51, the Citizen Initiative Act, and Bill 52, the Recall Act, were passed into law in 2021.
While these bills were initially viewed as positive steps towards enhancing democracy in Alberta, it has become evident that they contain major flaws that hinder the effectiveness of recall and citizen initiative efforts.
To put it simply, the requirements are unattainable.
For instance, the requirement of collecting signatures from 40% of eligible voters for recall petitions for public officials, within a short 60-day period, posed an insurmountable challenge for the citizen who initiated a recall petition against Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek.
What’s the point of a recall process if the petitioner has to collect nearly three times the number of votes garnered by the official they seek to recall?
The provincial government is currently considering how to fix recall.
But, the rules for citizen initiated referenda are equally unattainable, so it’s important we act now to make sure the provincial government understands that referenda rules must get fixed at the same time.
Our friends at the Alberta Institute recently launched a petition calling on the Alberta government to fix both recall and citizen initiated referendums.
They propose the following key recommendations for reforming recall and citizen-initiated referenda legislation in Alberta:
Recall:
- Recall efforts permitted any time (they would take a minimum of 6 months anyway, while in the last 6 months there would just be no by-election)
- 20% of the number who actually voted last time must sign a petition for a Recall to be successful when there are more than 50,000 eligible voters
- 30% of the number who actually voted last time must sign a petition for a Recall to be successful when there are fewer than 50,000 eligible voters
- Signatures must be collected within a 180-day period
- A successful petition should remove municipal and provincial representatives automatically, triggering a by-election which the representative could run in, if they wish
Referenda:
- 10% of the number who actually voted last time must sign a petition for Legislative or Policy Referenda
- 20% of the number who actually voted last time must sign a petition for Constitutional Referenda
- Signatures must be collected within a 180-day period
These recommendations aim to make the recall and referenda processes more accessible and reflective of democratic principles, ensuring that citizens have a meaningful voice in shaping policy decisions.
The democratic process should be inclusive and responsive to the evolving needs and aspirations of the populace, and citizens must have the opportunity to address fundamental issues through democratic tools.
If you agree, and want to see the referendum and recall rules fixed, please sign the Alberta Institute’s petition:
Regards,
Josh Andrus
Executive Director
Project Confederation
Alberta
Alberta introduces bill banning sex reassignment surgery on minors
From LifeSiteNews
Alberta Conservative Premier Danielle Smith followed through on a promised bill banning so-called ‘top and bottom’ surgeries for minors.
Alberta Conservative Premier Danielle Smith made good on her promise to protect kids from extreme transgender ideology after introducing a bill banning so-called “top and bottom” surgeries for minors.
“It is so important that all youth can enter adulthood equipped to make adult decisions. In order to do that, we need to preserve their ability to make those decisions, and that’s what we’re doing,” Smith said in a press release.
“The changes we’re introducing are founded on compassion and science, both of which are vital for the development of youth throughout a time that can be difficult and confusing.”
Bill 26, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 “reflects the government’s commitment to build a health care system that responds to the changing needs of Albertans,” the government says.
The bill will amend the Health Act to “prohibit regulated health professionals from performing sex reassignment surgeries on minors.”
It will also ban the “use of puberty blockers and hormone therapies for the treatment of gender dysphoria or gender incongruence” to kids 15 and under “except for those who have already commenced treatment and would allow for minors aged 16 and 17 to choose to commence puberty blockers and hormone therapies for gender reassignment and affirmation purposes with parental, physician and psychologist approval.”
Alberta Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange, the bill’s sponsor, said the province’s legislative priorities include “implementing policy changes to continue our refocusing work, position our health care system to respond to pressures and public health emergencies, and to preserve choice for minors. These amendments reflect our dedication to ensuring our health care system meets the needs of every Albertan.”
Earlier this year, the United Conservative Party (UCP) provincial government under Smith announced she would introduce the strong pro-family legislation that strengthens parental rights, protecting kids from life-altering, so-called “top and bottom” surgeries as well as other extreme forms of transgender ideology.
With Smith’s UCP holding a majority in the provincial legislature, the passage of Bill 26 is almost certain.
About the proposed law, Smith said that her government believes it is “vitally important to preserve the time” kids have as a “youth.” She added that she believes this is so kids can “gain sufficient amount of knowledge, experience, and perspective so that you can fully understand who you are, who you want to be and what opportunities you may want to have as an adult before making permanent life-altering decisions related to your body.”
While Smith has done far more than predecessor Jason Kenney to satisfy social conservatives, she has been mostly soft on social issues such as abortion and has publicly expressed pro-LGBT views, telling Jordan Peterson that conservatives must embrace homosexual “couples” as “nuclear families.”
This weekend, thousands of UCP members will gather for the party’s annual general meeting, where Smith’s leadership will be voted on along with many other pro-freedom and family policy proposals from members. Smith is expected to pass her leadership review vote with a large majority.
Alberta
Alberta court upholds conviction of Pastor Artur Pawlowski for preaching at Freedom Convoy protest
From LifeSiteNews
Lawyers argued that Pastor Artur Pawlowski’s sermon was intended to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, but the statement was characterized as a call for mischief.
An Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that Calgary Pastor Artur Pawlowski is guilty of mischief for his sermon at the Freedom Convoy-related border protest blockade in February 2022 in Coutts, Alberta.
On October 29, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Gordon Krinke sentenced the pro-freedom pastor to 60 days in jail for “counselling mischief” by encouraging protesters to continue blocking Highway 4 to protest COVID mandates.
“A reasonable person would understand the appellant’s speech to be an active inducement of the illegal activity that was ongoing and that the appellant intended for his speech to be so understood,” the decision reads.
Pawlowski addressed a group of truckers and protesters blocking entrance into the U.S. state of Montana on February 3, the fifth day of the Freedom Convoy-styled protest. He encouraged the protesters to “hold the line” after they had reportedly made a deal with Royal Canadian Mounted Police to leave the border crossing and travel to Edmonton.
“The eyes of the world are fixed right here on you guys. You are the heroes,” Pawlowski said. “Don’t you dare go breaking the line.”
After Pawlowski’s sermon, the protesters remained at the border crossing for two additional weeks. While his lawyers argued that his speech was made to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, the statement is being characterized as a call for mischief.
Days later, on February 8, Pawlowski was arrested – for the fifth time – by an undercover SWAT team just before he was slated to speak again to the Coutts protesters.
He was subsequently jailed for nearly three months for what he said was for speaking out against COVID mandates, the subject of all the Freedom Convoy-related protests.
In Krinke’s decision, he argued that Pawlowski’s sermon incited the continuation of the protest, saying, “The Charter does not provide justification to anybody who incites a third party to commit such crimes.”
However, defence lawyer Sarah Miller pointed out that that Pawlowski’s sermon was protected under freedom of speech, an argument that Krinke quickly dismissed.
“While the appellant is correct that peaceful, lawful and nonviolent communication is entitled to protection, blockading a highway is an inherently aggressive and potentially violent form of conduct, designed to intimidate and impede the movement of third parties,” he wrote.
Pawlowski was released after the verdict. He has already spent 78 days in jail before the trial.
Pawlowski is the first Albertan to be charged for violating the province’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (CIDA), which was put in place in 2020 under then-Premier Jason Kenney.
The CIDA, however, was not put in place due to COVID mandates but rather after anti-pipeline protesters blockaded key infrastructure points such as railway lines in Alberta a few years ago.
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