“We are very pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision confirming the unconstitutionality of the federal government’s destructive Bill C-69 legislation. This legislation is already responsible for the loss of tens of billions in investment as well as thousands of jobs across many provinces and economic sectors. The ruling today represents an opportunity for all provinces to stop that bleeding and begin the process of reattracting those investments and jobs into our economies.
“The decision is also a massive win for the protection of sovereign provincial rights under the Constitution. The federal government, through passage of Bill C-69, and continuing now with their proposed electricity regulations and oil and gas emissions cap, is blatantly attempting to erode and emasculate the rights and authorities of provinces as an equal order of government under the Canadian Constitution. Today’s court decision significantly strengthens our province’s legal position as we work to protect Albertans from federal intrusion into various areas of sovereign provincial jurisdiction. Alberta will continue to partner with other willing provinces and interveners in pushing back against these unconstitutional federal efforts using all legal means available to us.
“Finally, we call on the federal government to learn the lessons from this decision and abandon their ongoing unconstitutional efforts to seize regulatory control over the electricity and natural resource sectors of all provinces. Instead, we invite them once more to come to the table in good faith and work with Alberta to align our mutual efforts on emissions reductions and development of our electricity grid and world-class energy sector.
“In this regard, we hope today’s decision provides an opportunity for a reset in the ongoing provincial-federal discussions on these issues.
“Premier Smith will have more to say at 11:30 a.m.”