Alberta’s former finance minister – with a large portion of the United Conservative caucus backing him for party leader – has added his voice to those who are questioning whether the bill promised to a rival is federal. The law will be rejected and passed in the legislature.
Travis Toes says he will pursue other levers to escalate the fight for the federal government rather than resorting to what he characterizes as self-aggrandizing recipes for legal and economic chaos.
“I think it would be quite doubtful,” Toes said in an interview Thursday when asked whether he believed fellow leadership candidate Danielle Smith’s proposed Alberta Sovereignty Act to be passed in the legislature. Will get enough votes.
“I actually have about half of the (United Conservatives) MLAs openly supporting me right now. And I’ve certainly heard genuine concerns over the approach to the Sovereignty Act from many of them. ,
The UCP government’s Leader of the House and Finance Minister Jason Nixon told reporters that Toes made the remarks, he also doubted that the act would get enough support in the House.
Nixon, who said he believes Toes is the best candidate, called Smith’s proposal fundamentally illegal and unenforceable, bad for business and politically problematic that cannot be accomplished.
Toews said he agreed and was particularly distressed about what the act would mean for business viability, investor confidence and jobs.
“An environment where you’re asking businesses and companies to ignore federal law is not an environment that attracts investment.”
He said if some businesses decided to follow the province’s lead and ignore certain laws and court rulings, while other businesses chose to follow them, uncertainties and inequalities would increase.
“It has the potential to create economic chaos in the province of Alberta,” he said.
“When we deal with Ottawa in terms of Alberta’s place in the Confederation, we need to be assertive — assertive and strategic,” he said.
“I am not about all that weary political rhetoric for personal political gain that ultimately results in disillusionment of Albertans and angry Albertans.”
Toes pointed to his Five-Point Plan on Federal Relations, which would change the formula of equality to a provincial pension plan, a provincial police force and work with other provinces and transfer taxing power from Ottawa to territories. will work to do.
He said his government would also pass legislation to impose tariffs on goods and services or imports from specific regions to counter rules and policies deemed unfair to Alberta.
“I am a great believer in free trade, but Alberta needed a way to push back tangible in a very specific way,” he said.
Toes stepped down as finance minister in late May to run for leadership. He has about 30 committed supporters among the members of the UCP caucus, while Smith has two.
Smith, a former Wildrose Party leader, radio talk show host and businesswoman, is considered one of the frontrunners in the race to replace Premier Jason Kenney as party leader and premier when voting takes place on October 6. .
Last month, Smith announced that if she wins the leadership, she would immediately introduce a Sovereignty Act bill giving her government the discretion to refuse to enforce federal laws or court rulings that intrude on provincial rights or impose laws against Alberta. interests are at risk.
Smith has said Alberta immediately draws a line in the sand when it comes to federal incursions into areas such as energy development and COVID-19 measures.
His campaign declined an interview on Thursday, but pointed to his statement a day earlier, which said the Sovereignty Act would be implemented on a case-by-case basis and would only receive a free vote of members in the House. Only after doing
Political scientist Duane Bratt said Nixon’s assessment of the bill’s flaws is accurate, but the UCP caucus indicated it may not support Smith’s signature legislation, which may excite his supporters.
“Nixon is right on this. It’s illegal. It’s unconstitutional,” said Bratt with Mount Royal University in Calgary.
“I was wondering at what point there was going to be a clash between the current government and the leadership race. Well, we saw yesterday (with Nixon’s comments).”
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