UCP leadership candidate Brain Jean says if he's elected premier of Alberta, he will serve legal notice on the federal government on his first day of the job..On Monday night, Jean released a hugely detailed set of policies on Alberta's autonomy within Canada..Jean told the Western Standard his government will on its first day, "serve legal notice on the federal government and the other provinces that Alberta is invoking Section 46 (Initiation of amendment procedures) of the Constitution Act (1982) and demanding formal negotiations on amending the constitution."."Equalization disincentivizes economic development in 'have-not' provinces and that is made worse when Quebec, which gets the most equalization, does everything in its power to hurt the Alberta industries which result in Alberta's wealth," Jean told the Western Standard..Demands that Alberta will raise in constitutional negotiations include:.· Ending equalization which disincentivizes economic development in “have-not” provinces..· Alberta be formally granted a permanent seat on the Supreme Court. Quebec has three..· Changes to the federal parliament so either the House of Commons or the Senate has true representation by population, or some other mechanism to fairly account for Alberta’s population and economic importance..· Changes to the constitution to prohibit the federal government from writing a law that targets or damages a province without the consent of the legislature of that province..· Clarify in the constitution that neither a province nor the federal government can interfere with any province’s ability to sell its products to the rest of the world.."For some years now, we have been talking about a 'fair deal' but we have been too afraid to go to the negotiating table and try to get any deal at all. That must end," Jean told the Western Standard. "You can't get a deal if you don't try to get a deal.""Imagine the improvements we can make to Canada over and above fixing equalization. We can repair the imbalances in political representation. We can ensure that no province can prevent another from selling its goods and services to the rest of the world. We can fix inadequate health funding," Jean said. "Some of the leadership contestants don't want to change anything. Some of them want to skip trying to get a deal and go straight to the nuclear option of saying no to Canada. Before we consider divorce, let's try to fix this marriage."."It means that constitutional negotiations will begin. We will raise our issues and solutions. Other provinces will raise things they want to fix. Alberta might have the most complaints and the best complaints but other provinces have issues too," Jean said..Jean said everyone wants to fix how the Federal government interferes in healthcare, but doesn't pay its share. He also says Newfoundland, like Alberta, is being prevented from selling to the rest of the world, in this case it's Quebec preventing them from selling electricity to the US.."Negotiations will raise issues and hopefully we will come up with solutions. The last three times there have been constitutional discussions the premiers got to a deal. One gave us the constitution, the second (Meech Lake) failed in just one province. The third, Charlottetown, failed in a national referendum even though it would have given us a Triple E Senate. But all three times the premiers were able to get a deal. I am hopeful we can do it again."
UCP leadership candidate Brain Jean says if he's elected premier of Alberta, he will serve legal notice on the federal government on his first day of the job..On Monday night, Jean released a hugely detailed set of policies on Alberta's autonomy within Canada..Jean told the Western Standard his government will on its first day, "serve legal notice on the federal government and the other provinces that Alberta is invoking Section 46 (Initiation of amendment procedures) of the Constitution Act (1982) and demanding formal negotiations on amending the constitution."."Equalization disincentivizes economic development in 'have-not' provinces and that is made worse when Quebec, which gets the most equalization, does everything in its power to hurt the Alberta industries which result in Alberta's wealth," Jean told the Western Standard..Demands that Alberta will raise in constitutional negotiations include:.· Ending equalization which disincentivizes economic development in “have-not” provinces..· Alberta be formally granted a permanent seat on the Supreme Court. Quebec has three..· Changes to the federal parliament so either the House of Commons or the Senate has true representation by population, or some other mechanism to fairly account for Alberta’s population and economic importance..· Changes to the constitution to prohibit the federal government from writing a law that targets or damages a province without the consent of the legislature of that province..· Clarify in the constitution that neither a province nor the federal government can interfere with any province’s ability to sell its products to the rest of the world.."For some years now, we have been talking about a 'fair deal' but we have been too afraid to go to the negotiating table and try to get any deal at all. That must end," Jean told the Western Standard. "You can't get a deal if you don't try to get a deal.""Imagine the improvements we can make to Canada over and above fixing equalization. We can repair the imbalances in political representation. We can ensure that no province can prevent another from selling its goods and services to the rest of the world. We can fix inadequate health funding," Jean said. "Some of the leadership contestants don't want to change anything. Some of them want to skip trying to get a deal and go straight to the nuclear option of saying no to Canada. Before we consider divorce, let's try to fix this marriage."."It means that constitutional negotiations will begin. We will raise our issues and solutions. Other provinces will raise things they want to fix. Alberta might have the most complaints and the best complaints but other provinces have issues too," Jean said..Jean said everyone wants to fix how the Federal government interferes in healthcare, but doesn't pay its share. He also says Newfoundland, like Alberta, is being prevented from selling to the rest of the world, in this case it's Quebec preventing them from selling electricity to the US.."Negotiations will raise issues and hopefully we will come up with solutions. The last three times there have been constitutional discussions the premiers got to a deal. One gave us the constitution, the second (Meech Lake) failed in just one province. The third, Charlottetown, failed in a national referendum even though it would have given us a Triple E Senate. But all three times the premiers were able to get a deal. I am hopeful we can do it again."
