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Is it time for that Alberta constitution? 11 April 2004 Pat Beauchamp is like a pesky spring gopher. Every time the Alberta Tories think they've got him under control he pops out of another hole. The chairman of the Alberta Residents League already gave the PCs' Red Brigade fits when he acted like a dog with a bone with the so-called "firewall." This is a stockade of provincial legislation designed to keep the threatening Ottawa Liberal government at bay. But it spilled out onto the convention floor, where delegates openly debated an independence option for Alberta. It ended up as the only serious item of business at the party's fall policy conference. The only way Klein could make it go away then was to call in a preemptive strike, and turn loose an MLA committee under former Canadian Alliance MP Ian McClelland to tour the province holding public hearings. "We're not backing off on the Alberta Agenda," vowed Beauchamp. He's in the process of lining up a fleet of transport trailers parked in fields by major Alberta highways with the Residents League slogan painted on the side. It boldly reads: "More Alberta, Less Ottawa." Meanwhile, fresh polling is underway and is due to be released on the eve of this year's PC meeting later this month. But now Pat's got another project to hopefully bring the drifting PC party back in line. "Alberta is a major province and it's time we started acting like one," Beauchamp spat. And what better time than next year, when the province will celebrate its 100th year within Confederation? "A made-in-Alberta constitution might be an appropriate way to mark the Alberta centennial," he added. He said it would be a "great legacy" for Ralph Klein, who is expected to consider his political future following the province's big birthday bash. "That constitution could symbolize Alberta's coming of age as a partner in confederation," he said. But unlike former premier Peter Lougheed's largely meaningless provincial bill of rights, Pat's Alberta constitution would have some teeth to it - if the Tories ever choose to bite. Although given the present state of the Justice department, that is highly unlikely. "Externally, a provincial constitution could act as a shield symbolically and practically against policy encroachment by the federal government," Beauchamp said. He specifically cited the gun registry and the Kyoto agreement. Entrenching rights in the Alberta constitution would lead to some interesting showdowns with Ottawa. The only problem is that the final arbiter would be the Supreme Court of Canada, which is hand-picked by the prime minister. "We're gearing up to educate Albertans," Beauchamp said. The first meeting will take place on May 19 in Calgary, where Alberta senator-in-waiting Ted Morton will get the constitutional ball rolling. Morton has already written a paper on the issue where he talks about bringing the Alberta Act "back home" from Ottawa. "It would allow Albertans, if they chose, to cement-in some of the more important achievements of the Klein government by way of constitutional requirements for balanced budgets and referendums to approve tax increases," Morton said. And it would act as a strong buffer against the "group rights and ethnic/racial preferences" that the Supreme Court has arbitrarily read into provincial laws. He described an Alberta constitution as an "initiative designed to increase self-government for Albertans." But it "could end up undermining democratic autonomy if the final word on the constitution's meaning rests with nine non-Alberta judges in Ottawa." Making matters more complicated for Alberta's Red Tories is the possibility that Morton - who is seeking a PC nomination in Calgary - could be sitting among them soon. What's more, Queen Elizabeth - who will visit Alberta next May - might even be persuaded to sign Ralph's constitution into law. |
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