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Alberta’s Smith says courts should not be gatekeepers on constitutional questions
The proposal grants Alberta's Justice Minister power over referendum wording despite judicial concerns, with over 400,000 citizens backing a related petition, nearly 14% of eligible voters.
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith proposed legislation to halt an ongoing court case and give Justice Minister Mickey Amery authority over referendum questions.
- A day earlier, Justice Colin Feasby ruled a separatist referendum question would contravene the Charter and the province's referendum law, and said the United Conservative government’s mid-process rule change is undemocratic.
- Danielle Smith, Alberta Premier, argued those seeking an independence referendum should not have `gatekeepers,' like the courts, and said courts `seem to want to approve the ones they like, and hold up the ones they don't like.'
- Changing the approval process would pause an ongoing court case and shift authority to Justice Minister Mickey Amery, sparking a legal-political clash that Judge Colin Feasby called undemocratic Friday.
- The Canadian Press reported this story first on Dec. 6, 2025, highlighting Smith's ongoing public debate including her Oct. 7, 2025, press conference on Parliament Hill.
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EDMONTON—Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says that those who want a referendum on independence should not be held back by "guardians," such as the courts. Ms. Smith spoke on Saturday on her interactive radio program, for the first time since her government proposed a bill to put an end to ongoing judicial proceedings on this issue. She argues that giving the Minister of Justice, Mickey Amery, the power to rule on referendum matters is a guarantee…
·Richelieu, Canada
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Total News Sources41
Leaning Left22Leaning Right1Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution81% Left
Bias Distribution
- 81% of the sources lean Left
81% Left
L 81%
15%
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