Smith says no COVID-19 pardons because Canadian system doesn't work like the U.S.
CTV
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she is no longer pursuing amnesty for COVID-19 health-rule violators because Canada doesn't work that way.
EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she is no longer pursuing amnesty for COVID-19 health-rule violators because Canada doesn't work that way.
“Because we've been so influenced by the (United) States, I think that some people think that a premier has the same power as they do in the States of clemency or offering pardons,” Smith told the Shaun Newman podcast Monday.
“I've not observed that that's the case in Canada. We just have a different criminal justice and different legal system, and once things have been handed over for prosecution, politicians have to be hands off.”
However, law professor Lorian Hardcastle says there is a way.
Hardcastle says pardoning provisions exist at the federal level and Ottawa has used them to offer exemptions to those convicted of simple criminal possession of cannabis.
Hardcastle says a similar framework for COVID-19 public health violations would be unusual at the provincial level but could be done if Smith's government passes a bill to set up the framework.
“She could pass legislation and do this,” said Hardcastle, an associate in the University of Calgary's faculty of law, who specializes in health law and policy.
