Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said he will respect provincial jurisdiction as prime minister, making bills like the Alberta Sovereignty Act unnecessary.."When I'm prime minister, bills like this will be unnecessary because I'm going to respect provincial jurisdiction," Poilievre said in an interview with True North.."It's entirely reasonable that premiers across the country, whether it's Quebec's François Legault, or Saskatchewan's Scott Moe, or Daniel Smith, or anyone else, would want to protect their jurisdiction.".Alberta Premier Danielle Smith introduced the 'Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act,' to the Alberta legislature on Tuesday. This allows Alberta cabinet ministers to identify any federal legislation harmful to the province and introduce a motion in the legislature in invoke it..The province would be able to “stand up to federal government overreach and interference" in areas of provincial jurisdiction, including private property, natural resources, agriculture, firearms, economic regulations, and the delivery of health and education.Trudeau said his government would not take anything "off the table" when it came to the Alberta Soveriegnty Act, but said he also was not looking for a fight with Alberta. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh claimed Smith's proposed act showed she is "out of touch" with the needs of Albertans.Meanwhile, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet said he believes it "might be a good idea" for Alberta to become an independent nation. He encouraged Alberta to hold a referendum on its independence from the rest of Canada.READ MORE: Bloc Quebecois' Blanchet says he supports Alberta sovereignty, independence.Poilievre said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau imposed on the province's sovereignty with Bill C-69, a bill that overhaul's the federal government's environmental assessment system. Poilievre said C-69 appropriates federal control over provincial resource decisions with carbon tax, "which again, proposes a provincial tax through a federal law." ."These are all examples of massive federal interference in provincial jurisdiction and as prime minister, I would repeal C-69. I would repeal the carbon tax."."I would also repeal the hunting rifle and hunting shotgun ban that Trudeau is proposing," Poilievre said, referring to Bill C-21, which would ban hundreds of thousands of firearms that are primarily used for hunting. .Poilievre said he anticipated not long after becoming prime minister, the provinces will "stop talking about" independence. He claimed that conversations around independence and sovereignty were not happening when Stephen Harper was prime minister.."I don't remember even in Quebec, they briefly had a PQ government while Harper was in, and other than the normal squabbles, there was nothing on this scale," Poilievre said. "And in fact, when Harper left office, the separatist movement in Quebec was annihilated.".Poilievre said during Harper's reign, talk of separation in Alberta was also "unheard of." He said that was because the federal government respected the province's desires to make their own decisions.."You tend to have a more united country because people aren't antagonized by each other," he said.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said he will respect provincial jurisdiction as prime minister, making bills like the Alberta Sovereignty Act unnecessary.."When I'm prime minister, bills like this will be unnecessary because I'm going to respect provincial jurisdiction," Poilievre said in an interview with True North.."It's entirely reasonable that premiers across the country, whether it's Quebec's François Legault, or Saskatchewan's Scott Moe, or Daniel Smith, or anyone else, would want to protect their jurisdiction.".Alberta Premier Danielle Smith introduced the 'Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act,' to the Alberta legislature on Tuesday. This allows Alberta cabinet ministers to identify any federal legislation harmful to the province and introduce a motion in the legislature in invoke it..The province would be able to “stand up to federal government overreach and interference" in areas of provincial jurisdiction, including private property, natural resources, agriculture, firearms, economic regulations, and the delivery of health and education.Trudeau said his government would not take anything "off the table" when it came to the Alberta Soveriegnty Act, but said he also was not looking for a fight with Alberta. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh claimed Smith's proposed act showed she is "out of touch" with the needs of Albertans.Meanwhile, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet said he believes it "might be a good idea" for Alberta to become an independent nation. He encouraged Alberta to hold a referendum on its independence from the rest of Canada.READ MORE: Bloc Quebecois' Blanchet says he supports Alberta sovereignty, independence.Poilievre said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau imposed on the province's sovereignty with Bill C-69, a bill that overhaul's the federal government's environmental assessment system. Poilievre said C-69 appropriates federal control over provincial resource decisions with carbon tax, "which again, proposes a provincial tax through a federal law." ."These are all examples of massive federal interference in provincial jurisdiction and as prime minister, I would repeal C-69. I would repeal the carbon tax."."I would also repeal the hunting rifle and hunting shotgun ban that Trudeau is proposing," Poilievre said, referring to Bill C-21, which would ban hundreds of thousands of firearms that are primarily used for hunting. .Poilievre said he anticipated not long after becoming prime minister, the provinces will "stop talking about" independence. He claimed that conversations around independence and sovereignty were not happening when Stephen Harper was prime minister.."I don't remember even in Quebec, they briefly had a PQ government while Harper was in, and other than the normal squabbles, there was nothing on this scale," Poilievre said. "And in fact, when Harper left office, the separatist movement in Quebec was annihilated.".Poilievre said during Harper's reign, talk of separation in Alberta was also "unheard of." He said that was because the federal government respected the province's desires to make their own decisions.."You tend to have a more united country because people aren't antagonized by each other," he said.
