Lawyer and chartered accountant Jason Stephan is the United Conservative Party MLA for Red Deer South(This is part one of a series focused on increasing freedom and prosperity for Albertans.)My duty as an MLA is to seek freedom and prosperity for Alberta families and individuals — for them, their businesses and workers. That means speaking the truth, even if some don’t like it: Alberta does not need a king.The Constitution Act of Canada makes King Charles III our head of state. But this Constitution is from 1867. It’s now 2025. How is this king relevant in the day-to-day lives of ordinary Albertans?.Jason Stephan misses swearing-in ceremony to travel outside Alberta.Canada’s Constitution is broken in many ways, and it starts at the top.In Alberta, we believe in the values of merit and freedom. We believe in earning your place, not inheriting it. Yet under our Constitution, our head of state did not earn his position. He was born into it.Our political system is democratic — but at its highest symbolic level, it remains a system of inherited privilege. The king is our head of state because of ancestry..Yes, he is only a figurehead. But symbols matter. They express who we are and what we stand for. And the monarchy symbolizes an outdated relationship of subservience — of being ruled, not self-governed.That is not Alberta.Some will argue that the monarchy provides good tradition. But traditions are only good so long as they remain true.Consider the oaths of allegiance some are required to swear — including elected officials. Wouldn’t it be better to swear allegiance to Albertans? Why do we pledge loyalty to a distant king and not to the families and individuals we are elected to serve?.Some say the monarchy provides stability. But stability is not the highest virtue. Vladimir Putin has ruled Russia for more than 25 years. Is that stability virtuous?Remember Jason Kenney? He said, for the sake of stability, Alberta conservatives should not vote to remove him as leader. But democracy matters more than stability.Monarchy is not democracy, and it does not make us stable.True principles, honest work, integrity, strong families and communities — these are what produce lasting stability, not a figurehead king..Moreover, Alberta does not need a de facto king either.Canada’s political system is modelled after the Westminster system in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, we’ve adopted the worst version — one that elevates the prime minister to the role of de facto king between elections, concentrating far too much power in the hands of one leader and the inner executive circle.And we are worse off for it.Too much groupthink. Too many echo chambers. Too little accountability.These de facto kings can — and have — unilaterally wasted hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars.We’ve seen prime ministers who do not like Alberta. And because they wield king-like powers, they have acted vindictively — singling us out, damaging and destroying livelihoods across the province.That is happening now. And it’s not new — it’s a pattern Albertans have seen over and over again.These de facto kings have caused great harm to Alberta’s freedom and prosperity. We do not want them. We do not need them.Albertans must rule themselves. Alberta is a self-reliant province. We have to be. Ottawa does not help us — it hinders us. It holds us back..Alberta is not a colony.We do not need to be ruled by a king from another world — whether that king lives in a castle in England, or an Ottawa residence.We must govern ourselves. Popular sovereignty is the principle that the authority of government is created and sustained by the consent of its people. Benjamin Franklin expressed it this way: “In free governments, the rulers are the servants, and the people their superiors and sovereigns.”Albertans want governments that are “of the people, by the people, for the people.”Alberta needs more popular sovereignty, more checks and balances on power, more independence. These things increase freedom. These things create prosperity. But, Alberta does not need a king.Lawyer and chartered accountant Jason Stephan is the United Conservative Party MLA for Red Deer South.
