Two former Progressive Conservative justice ministers, Ken Rostad and Verlyn Olson, joined nearly 30 other Alberta lawyers in a public letter calling the United Conservative government’s conduct “unacceptable,” denouncing its repeated use of the notwithstanding clause, its retroactive referendum rule changes and its attacks on the courts.
A letter meant to rally the public
In a letter published this week in a newspaper in Camrose, the lawyers wrote that they felt it was important to call out the government’s behaviour and get the public involved.
The letter covers the government’s invocation of the Charter’s notwithstanding clause four times last fall and its retroactive rule changes that pushed a separation referendum petition forward. Those changes also stripped the province’s chief electoral officer of much of his decision-making authority over such petitions.
Olson, who served as Alberta’s top lawyer under former premier Ed Stelmach before being shifted to agriculture after the 2012 election, aligned the government’s moves with authoritarianism.
“We do not want an authoritarian government,” said Olson, whose Progressive Conservative party saw current Premier Danielle Smith cross the floor to join its ranks more than a decade ago. “I think all you have to do is look a little ways south to see what happens when you get an authoritarian government that does not think it is bound by the normal rules that a democracy operates by.”
Olson said he didn’t speak for all signatories, but described the letter as a cross-partisan statement, and said the group felt a professional responsibility to “point out things that we think are wrong or anti-democratic.” He said the signatories decided to speak out after a Christmas party last month, when “it seemed like the same thing was on all of our minds.”
What the notwithstanding clause does
Section 33 of the Charter — the notwithstanding clause — allows Parliament or a provincial legislature to declare that a law operates despite certain Charter rights, for renewable periods of up to five years. It was designed as a rarely used democratic safety valve. Alberta’s four invocations in a single fall — covering the teachers’ dispute and policies on pronouns, sports and gender-affirming care — are what the lawyers say turned an exceptional tool into a routine one.
The letter also takes issue with Smith publicly criticizing the courts and recently claiming appointed judges were unable to make impartial decisions. “An unelected judge is not synonymous with democracy. Democracy is when elected officials who have to face the electorate every four years get to make decisions,” Smith said on her call-in radio show in December.
Her comments came after an Alberta judge criticized her government for changing the rules to allow the separation petition to move ahead while a court case reviewing the question’s legality was nearly complete. The judge eventually ruled the old framework prohibited such a referendum, but Smith said the petitioner — a constituency association president for her United Conservative Party — shouldn’t be held back by “gatekeepers” like the courts. Supporters of the separation referendum began collecting signatures earlier this month.
“Politicians should treat our courts with respect and not exert political pressure on them or try to undermine their legitimacy,” the letter reads. “In a democracy, we don’t always get our own way, but for it to function, there must be clear rules that are fair to all and can’t be changed on a whim for political expedience.”
‘Nobody should be above the law’
Olson said another key concern is the government’s recent move to shield past, current and future justice ministers from being sanctioned by the provincial law society for actions taken as part of their official duties. Two of Olson’s successors have been sanctioned for inappropriate conduct, although one, Kaycee Madu, is appealing the decision. A third former justice minister since Olson left the post was found not guilty of wrongdoing in 2024.
“We expect the law society to hold everybody to a high standard,” Olson said. “It’s just counterintuitive to say: ‘except for the guy who is the justice minister, he doesn’t have to be held to those standards.’ Nobody should be above the law.”
Current Justice Minister Mickey Amery told reporters last month the change was needed to protect the role from “political activism” and interference. His press secretary, Heather Jenkins, reiterated that point Tuesday. “The attorney general must be free to perform official duties in the public interest without fear of facing politically motivated complaints from special interest groups who disagree with government policies,” she said.
Responding to the letter, Amery said in an email Tuesday the government is committed to passing legislation that strengthens public trust and ensures Alberta’s democratic processes are fair. “This includes using all legal means necessary to keep Albertans safe and to protect the rule of law,” he said.
