Alberta passes Sovereignty Act, but first strips out sweeping powers for cabinet

The Alberta Legislature has passed Premier Danielle Smith's controversial Sovereignty Act but not before first stripping out the provision that granted Smith's cabinet the power to bypass the legislature and rewrite laws as it saw fit.

Smith's United Conservative caucus used its majority Wednesday night to pass an amendment to affirm that the Alberta Legislature still has the last word on lawmaking.

It then moved directly to third and final reading on the bill and was approved around 1 a.m. MT Thursday, with government members standing to applaud after it cleared the final legislative hurdle.

The final vote was 27-7 split along party lines: Smith's UCP voting for it and the Opposition NDP against.

Smith, speaking to the bill in third reading, said it is time to reset the relationship with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.

"It's not like Ottawa is a national government," said Smith.

"The way our country works is that we are a federation of sovereign, independent jurisdictions. They are one of those signatories to the Constitution and the rest of us, as signatories to the Constitution, have a right to exercise our sovereign powers in our own areas of jurisdiction."

The next election is set for May 29.

The NDP voted against the amendment and the bill at all three readings, calling the legislation "a hot mess express" of unconstitutional presumptions and capricious provincial powers that offend the democratic process and put a chill on business investment.

NDP deputy leader Sarah Hoffman said the UCP had to use its majority to choke off debate at three stages of debate on the bill in order to pass it just over a week after Smith introduced to blunt growing opposition.

"People don't like it. That's why you're trying to ram it through here in the middle of the night," said Hoffman.

"This [bill] erodes democracy, it hurts our economy, and it is damaging to our national and our international reputation."

The bill was introduced by Smith as centrepiece legislation to pursue a more confrontational approach with Trudeau's government on a range of issues deemed to be overreach in provincial areas of responsibility.

The bill faced widespread criticism from the start for provisions granting Smith and her cabinet sweeping powers to rewrite legislation. Smith initially denied the bill had such authority but as outrage mounted, she announced over the weekend there would be changes.