Alberta promises to drop controversial pandemic powers legislation
Bill 10 has been criticized by NDP opposition and legal activists
EDMONTON — The Alberta government is promising to give up controversial pandemic powers it gave itself back in spring — powers that already existed during a public health emergencies — and is repealing a portion of the Public Health Act that would have, in theory, allowed the government to mandate vaccinations.
“We’re going to be removing those powers that ministers have during a public health emergency and leaving it for legislation to be amended by the legislature as it should be,” said Health Minister Tyler Shandro in an interview.
A timeline for the changes isn’t clear: The government is awaiting recommendations from a special committee of the legislature that’s studying the Public Health Act, though those are expected this fall.
In short, during a public health emergency, the government already had wideranging powers to modify legislation and enforce mandates such as quarantines. Shandro said these powers were added in the wake of 9/11, and until now, had never been used.
Hence, the controversy the UCP found itself in the spring with Bill 10. While the province’s Public Health Act already allowed for modification of legislation by ministers, the United Conservatives had interpreted it as “modify and add,” explained Shandro. Bill 10 was a clarification of the law.
“I think a lot of people thought we were giving ourselves new powers,” he said. “It made us look at the emergency powers section of the Public Health Act and say ‘yeah, shouldn’t this be left to the legislature?’”
Bill 10, which passed in April, was panned by the New Democrat opposition and legal activists such as the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
Essentially, it allowed for laws to be made by government ministers. In May, Shandro used these powers to allow police to access the health records of someone who spat, sneezed or coughed on a police officer — something that could have been debated by elected representatives. It was also used,
Shandro said, to help protect renters by amending the Residential Tenancies Act.
“We needed, very quickly, to protect folks from being evicted,” Shandro said.
Premier Jason Kenney justified the introduction of the bill so that government could continue to govern if the legislature was unable to meet to consider legislation. As it happened, the worst-case scenario didn’t materialize, and legislators met repeatedly over the course of the pandemic.
“We saw that we can still keep the legislature open and there’s no reason why a legislature should have that power taken away from them, even during a public health emergency,” Shandro said.
The vaccination provision, Shandro said in an interview with the National Post, seems to originate in the early 20th century, and would allow the Lieutenant-Governor to force vaccines on the populace. To the government’s knowledge, it has never been used. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer, has said she can’t imagine using it, either.
“So, you know, there’s no point in having a power in legislation if we have no intention of using it,” said Shandro.