Alberta's Lt. Gov. says she's willing to toss Smith's sovereignty act if unconstitutional

At the inaugural Alberta Day celebration on the provincial legislature grounds Thursday, Lt.-Gov. Salma Lakhani told reporters she would wait to weigh in until her legal experts could look at the bill, but in her role as the Queen’s vice-regal representative in Alberta she would be willing to kibosh it.

“We are a constitutional monarchy, and this is where we do checks and balances. I’m what I would call a ‘constitutional fire extinguisher.’ We don’t have to use it a lot, but sometimes we do have to use it,” Lakhani said.

Smith has promised, if elected premier, to pass an Alberta sovereignty act that would allow Alberta to opt out of federal legislation, regulatory decisions and court rulings that legislators believe go against Alberta’s interests. Critics have warned it would create a potential constitutional crisis, undermine the rule of law, and scare off investors.

Lakhani said it will depend on the advice she receives as to whether or not the law would be unconstitutional.

“I think we will try and cross that bridge when we get to it, if we get to it,” she said.

She referenced Lt. Gov. John Bowen, who in 1937 refused to give Royal Assent to three bills that had been passed by the legislature until they could be reviewed by the Supreme Court of Canada. In retaliation, Social Credit premier William Aberhart closed the viceregal residence. Ultimately, the Supreme Court declared the laws were beyond Alberta’s power to be enacted.

Lakhani said she hopes she would be prepared for potential political backlash.

“This is why I live in my own house,” Lakhani said.

Born and raised in Uganda, where the country’s entire Asian minority population was expelled in 1972, Lakhani said her experience in a country where there was no rule of law has led her to feel very strongly that the rule of law and democracy be guarded and respected.

“Those are very, very important things for a prosperous nation,” she said.

Smith, in a debate in July, defended her plan, suggesting it was about “putting Ottawa on notice.”

“We have allowed the federal government to walk all over us in every single area of our jurisdiction,” she said.