Alberta set to repeal Bill 10, giving back their temporary COVID-19 powers

Alberta’s UCP government will repeal a controversial bill that adds special government powers to the Public Health Act in the spring, Health Minister Tyler Shandro said Thursday.

Under Bill 10, the Public Health Emergency Powers Amendment Act, a cabinet minister can make legislative changes without the approval of the legislature. The bill passed in 48 hours on April 2, with opposition from the NDP, who tried to add a sunset clause and transparency requirements to the new law.

“Over the last number of months, it has become clear that with the right safety protocols in place and standing orders that allow for the assembly to work quickly in an emergency situation, the power to modify legislation by ministerial order is unnecessary,” Shandro said.

Shandro said the committee’s final report would form the basis of a bill to modernize the Health Act, to be tabled in the Spring 2021 session. It will repeal Bill 10, and go further by repeal sections of the bill that were added in 2002 in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he said.

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) filed a legal challenge to the bill on April 30, arguing it was unconstitutional to give one minister the unilateral power to create new laws without the checks and balances of the legislature during a public health emergency.

JCCF lawyer Jay Cameron said in a statement Thursday the civil liberties organization would advance its litigation until Bill 10 is repealed, and the matter is currently scheduled for a Nov. 9 case management application.

“Statements that it will be repealed because it is unconstitutional are a good first step but we need to see action,” said Cameron.

“I’m not aware of any statements explaining the delay,” he said.

Steve Buick, press secretary to Shandro, did not respond to questions as of press time regarding the delay, or why the announcement came before the committee had submitted its final report.

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