“I am very happy to report that all nine of Canada's other provinces have filed notices of intervention with the Supreme Court of Canada reflecting their intent to intervene in the federal appeal of the Alberta Court of Appeal’s historic decision striking down the Federal Impact Assessment Act.
“This act, better known as Bill C-69 or the ‘No More Pipelines’ law, represents a profound threat to the future of the Canadian federation and our economy.
“I committed in the last election to launch a constitutional challenge of the ‘No More Pipelines’ law, and we won that challenge in a historically important four-to-one decision by the Alberta Court of Appeal on May, 10.
“As the majority of the court stated in their opinion:
‘If upheld, the (legislation) would permanently alter the division of powers and forever place provincial governments in an economic chokehold controlled by the federal government’
‘The IAA constitutes a profound invasion into provincial legislative jurisdiction and provincial proprietary rights. Parliament’s claimed power to regulate all environmental and other effects of intraprovincial designated projects improperly intrudes into industrial activity, resource development, local works and undertakings and other matters within provincial jurisdiction’
‘It is the province that owns those natural resources, not the federal government. And it is the province and its people who lose if those natural resources cannot be developed, not the federal government. The federal government does not have the constitutional right to veto an intra-provincial designated project based on its view of the public interest. Nor does the federal government have the constitutional right to appropriate the birthright and economic future of the citizens of a province.’
“Eight of the 10 Canadian provinces opposed Bill C-69 when it was before Parliament in 2019. Alberta succeeded in persuading the Senate to accept all of our proposed amendments, fundamentally changing the legislation. Unfortunately, the Trudeau government reverted to the original form of the legislation, which creates a virtually unlimited power for the Government of Canada to intervene in the approval of any major project, in any sector of the economy, in any part of the country, at any time, for any reason.
“This is clearly an effort to turn the federation on its head and it must not stand.
“We have worked closely with the other provinces to underscore the central importance of this constitutional challenge. I appreciate the decision of all nine other provincial governments to step forward and speak to these issues that are critical to the Canadian federation. In particular, I want to thank Saskatchewan and Ontario, who intervened in support of Alberta's application at the Alberta Court of Appeal in 2020.
“The deadline for provincial attorneys general to file their notices of intervention on the federal appeal of the Impact Assessment Act decision was July 6 at 5 p.m. EDT. We have confirmed that nine other provincial governments filed notices to intervene prior to the deadline.
“We will continue to do everything within our power to defend the vital economic interests of Alberta against federal intrusion and to defend our vision of the federation, including strong provinces, as originally conceived at Confederation.”