Bill 66 would walk back some emergency powers

Act removes government's ability to order mandatory immunizations

Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro introduced a bill Monday to undo controversial government powers established more than one year ago during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If passed, Bill 66, the Public Health Amendment Act, would repeal sections of Bill 10 that allowed cabinet ministers to make legislative changes without the approval of the legislature. The original bill amending the Public Health Act passed in 48 hours last April, with opposition from the NDP.

Bill 66 would also remove the government's power to order mandatory immunization for Albertans, remove the power to conscript during an emergency, and require the government to publish orders that change rules for the public. Shandro said public input shaped the amendments.

“Albertans told us that these are excessive authorities that infringe on their civil liberties,” Shandro told reporters Monday afternoon.

The bill sparked public concerns about government overreach, and continued to draw negative public feedback after a special committee was struck to look at the Public Health Act and its amendments.

Bill 66 also goes beyond public concerns about Bill 10 by addressing chronic disease and preventable injuries in the Public Health Act, which speaks only to communicable diseases, to help the province do more to prevent chronic disease.

Shandro said the addition would bring Alberta in line with other jurisdictions and would allow the chief medical officer of health to better monitor and take action on chronic illnesses like diabetes.

If the bill passes, Albertans who use inhalants as an intoxicant will no longer be fined for their addiction.

Shandro has previously said Bill 10 was passed out of concern the Legislative Assembly might not be able to meet to respond to the pandemic. However, the assembly sat for 52 days, passing 34 bills before the end of the spring sitting on July 29.

“And this was all done without the need to use the expanded authorities that were included in Bill 10,” said Shandro.

The government struck a special legislative committee to examine the Public Health Act last June, but it dismissed some of its advice. In its report, majority UCP committee members recommended that the government should better define terms but did not recommend scrapping the powers all together.

NDP health critic David Shepherd said Monday the committee looking at the bill was political theatre meant to appease the far-right.

“There's a lot of learning that's been left on the table,” said Shepherd, noting a government-commissioned third-party report on Alberta COVID-19 first-wave response is still outstanding.

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) filed a legal challenge to Bill 10 in April.

In an emailed statement Monday, Jay Cameron, a spokesman for the JCCF, said the civil liberties organization was glad to see the repeal of what it called “draconian” provisions.

However, Cameron said Bill 66 fails in other areas, including by not repealing the ability of the government to confiscate the real and personal property of Albertans without due process. The JCCF is still reviewing the proposed bill.

The special legislative committee received nearly 400 written submissions from members of the public concerned about the powers granted to ministers and the chief medical officer of health during a public health emergency, mainly arguing that those powers represent an overreach of government authority that infringes on individual freedoms.

Of 636 written submissions to the committee, 41 expressed concern about the Public Health Act's clause granting the government mandatory vaccination power.

Some of the committee's other recommendations were also dismissed, including affirming individual rights in the Health Act because the Alberta Bill of Rights takes precedence.

The recommendation to review the Public Health Act every five years was also rejected. Instead, if Bill 66 passes, the act must be reviewed every 10 years.

Albertans told us that these are excessive authorities that infringe on their civil liberties.