Bill 1 the International Agreements Act is a welcome reset. It says agreements negotiated abroad — or in Ottawa boardrooms — don’t bite here unless Alberta chooses to make them law. That’s not defiance; it’s federalism working the way our Constitution intends. The executive branch in Ottawa signs and ratifies treaties, but implementation inside Canada follows the division of powers. That means measures in areas of provincial jurisdiction only apply when the right legislature enacts them.Critics will say this is symbolic. In fact, it’s clarity. Alberta already has an International Trade and Investment Agreements Implementation Act that lets the Legislature approve trade pacts that touch provincial matters. .THOMAS: The politics of members of the new Calgary city council.But that law is narrow as it is focused on trade and investment. Bill 1 generalizes the rule: if an international agreement reaches into any area of provincial jurisdiction — from natural resources to education — it must be debated and passed here first.There’s good legal reason for this approach. Canada’s treaty practice is executive-led, but the courts have long held that international commitments don’t expand federal legislative power. Ottawa can promise; Alberta decides in its fields. That’s why responsible governments match international signatures with the right domestic laws, at the right level, before ratifying.Transparency also matters. Ottawa has a policy to table treaties in the House of Commons for 21 sitting days before ratification. Helpful, but it doesn’t create a legal duty to consult Alberta or secure consent from the Legislature. It’s still an executive process in Ottawa. Bill 1 answers that gap on our end by committing Alberta to decide, in public, how and whether international terms will operate here..If you want a model, look east. Quebec built a robust framework that requires “important” international commitments to be tabled in the National Assembly, and — in many cases — approved before ratification. It also vests a minister with the job of guarding Quebec’s constitutional jurisdiction during federal negotiations. Alberta’s Bill 1 aims for the same principle with less bureaucracy: implement in our Legislature, on our timetable.And no, this isn’t theoretical. When Canada joined the Hague Convention on child abduction, Alberta passed its own International Child Abduction Act to make those rules work here. When the Cape Town treaty modernized aircraft financing, Alberta enacted the International Interests in Mobile Aircraft Equipment Act so lenders and airlines had certainty on Alberta-based collateral. That’s how treaty implementation should look — co-operative, legal, predictable.Reporters at this week’s briefing asked whether Bill 1 is “mostly a signal.” Signals matter in constitutional politics. Investors, municipalities, and indigenous communities want to know who decides and when. A clear Alberta rulebook reduces uncertainty. It also prevents Ottawa from ratifying first and sorting out local impacts later, a sequence that has sparked friction in the past on files like trade, environment, and professional standards..OLDCORN: Ding dong the witch is dead, Gondek’s exit gives Calgary hope.Some will worry about partisan misuse. The safeguard is sunlight. Bill 1 forces decisions into the open: table the agreement, explain what parts touch Alberta’s jurisdiction, and put implementing bills to a vote. If an agreement makes sense for Alberta families and businesses, MLAs can support it. If it doesn’t, they can say why and amend. That is democratic accountability, not obstruction.At bottom, Bill 1 says decisions that shape Alberta’s future are made here. Ottawa can and should negotiate for Canada. But when international terms land on questions within Alberta’s jurisdiction, our lawmakers get the final say. That’s not a constitutional edge case; it’s the centre line of Canadian federalism. This legislation draws that line in ink, not pencil.Alberta should pass Bill 1. It protects our jurisdiction, invites co-operation on fair terms, and gives Albertans, not distant negotiators, the last word on the rules that govern life and work here.
