UCP accused of curbing debate on contentious bills as spring legislative session winds down

The NDP Opposition says the UCP government is abusing time allocation motions to limit debate on bills that consolidate power in the provincial cabinet. 

The motions, when passed, limit debate at each stage of deliberation to one hour. 

They are a legislative tool that was used sparingly by past governments. The NDP used time allocation four times when they were in office from 2015 to 2019. 

The NDP says the UCP has used the measure more than 50 times since taking office in 2019. The current 31st legislature has seen the government pass five such motions in the fall sitting.

As of late afternoon Tuesday, the UCP majority has passed 10 time allocation motions in the spring session to limit debate on Bills 18, 20, 21 and 22.  The government has three other motions ready to introduce as it sees fit. 

NDP Leader Rachel Notley said at a news conference Tuesday that Premier Danielle Smith and her government have launched a "co-ordinated attack on democracy."

"Since 2008, I've seen the PCs and now the UCP treat this institution as if it's their own little personal power playhouse," Notley said. 

"They are elected by the people to serve the people, not themselves and certainly not their friends and insiders. So they need to stop treating elected office as their own personal source of entitlement."

Bill 18, the Provincial Priorities Act; Bill 20, the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act; and Bill 21, Emergency Statutes Amendment Act; have been criticized for giving the provincial cabinet unprecedented power over municipalities over who sits on councils, the bylaws they pass and who manages emergencies. 

Bill 18 also makes the province the middleman when provincial entities like post-secondary institutions and municipal governments are offered money by the federal government. 

Bill 22 dismantles Alberta Health Services and creates four new health organizations, a move critics say will create havoc in an already vulnerable health-care system. 

Joseph Schow, UCP government House leader, brushed off criticism about the pace bills are getting pushed through the legislature.

Schow said the NDP is being obstructionist and not improving the bills introduced by his government. He said the UCP has a mandate to pass legislation. 

"We're going to continue to move forward with legislation and get it passed in a timely manner as we have committed to doing with the mandate that we have from Albertans," he told reporters at the Alberta legislature Tuesday. 

'Crazy territory'

The government's actions have alarmed Jared Wesley, a professor at the University of Alberta. Wesley has spoken out about UCP's actions in articles, Substack and social media posts saying he thinks they have the hallmarks of an authoritarian government.

Wesley is particularly concerned with a part of Bill 20 that would eliminate the ability for people to vouch for others when they show up at a voting station without proof of residency. 

He estimates this could disenfranchise about 10,000 to 50,000 Albertans who are eligible to vote.

"If you would have told me 10 years ago that we'd be having the discussion as to whether an Alberta conservative government would respect the rule of law and the right to vote, I would have called you crazy," Wesley said. 

"We're in crazy territory now. This is unseen territory."

Last weekend saw protests against the UCP in cities and towns across Alberta. 

Wesley thinks the government believes it can ride out criticism over the summer and says it will become harder for citizens to push back over time. 

"The measures are designed to squelch dissent," he said.