Danielle Smith put Section 3 repeal on the table, but her justice ministry says no changes are coming
On Saturday in Calgary, Premier Danielle Smith said she was in an “active conversation” with her justice minister about prioritizing repeal of Section 3, the censorship provision once used against me for 900 days and now against a Westlock grandmother. By Tuesday night, her justice ministry said it was “not contemplating any changes.”
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Article by Rebel News staff.
Tonight on The Ezra Levant Show: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told 300 Rebel News supporters in Calgary that she was in an "active conversation" with her justice minister about prioritizing repeal of the province's censorship law, but three days later a press secretary told the Edmonton Journal the government is "not contemplating any changes."
Smith spoke on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Rebel News LIVE! at the Carriage House in Calgary. She was asked about Section 3 of the Alberta Human Rights Act, which allows a person to be brought before a tribunal over something they published if it is deemed "likely to expose" a group to "hatred or contempt." The section was used for 900 days against Ezra Levant over cartoons he published in a magazine. Her own Wildrose platform promised its repeal in 2012.
Section 3 is now being used against Benita Pedersen, a grandmother and DJ from Westlock, over a 2023 flyer opposing a rainbow crosswalk in her town. Three years later her case is still before the tribunal, with closing arguments set for Dec. 8 and 9.
"I am having an active conversation with my justice minister about prioritizing that," Smith said, to cheers. On the Pedersen case, she said she was "watching the case with great dismay" but was "not allowed to comment on it because it's before an independent tribunal," and that her government "had thought that we were sending a signal" by appointing commissioners who "would drop frivolous cases." On the separate topic of DEI and cancel culture across the public sector, she said: "It turns out that maybe we need to be a bit more direct."
On Monday, Nov. 2, The Watchdog quoted University of Alberta law professor Florence Ashley, who said repeal has "less to do with protecting freedom of expression than it has to do with empowering hatred" and compared Pedersen's flyer to the "No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs" signs of post-war Britain. On Tuesday, in a column mostly about Smith comparing her TRACE spending review to DOGE, Postmedia columnist Lorne Gunter wrote that Smith and the UCP have to lay off the "MAGA vibe". That afternoon, NDP leader Naheed Nenshi said Smith was "making things up" to satisfy her interviewer, adding that "there are bigger priorities" than spending "a bunch of taxpayer time and a bunch of taxpayer money" on the issue.
Postmedia asked the Premier's office about her comments on Tuesday. The office forwarded the question to Justice Minister Mickey Amery's office, and that evening press secretary Heather Jenkins replied by email: "Alberta's government is committed to protecting human rights, including fundamental freedoms such as the freedom of speech. We are not contemplating any changes to the Alberta Human Rights Act." The Edmonton Journal ran Jonny Wakefield's story on Wednesday under the headline "Ministry walks back Smith's comments about repealing Human Rights Act's hate speech provisions."
Amery, speaking to reporters at the legislature on Tuesday afternoon before that email went out, had said: "We will continue to assess and reassess all of our legislation to make sure that it is in line with the charter, and that's all I can say about that at this time." The Journal reported his ministry "would be reviewing the Human Rights Act to make sure it does not infringe on Albertans' constitutionally protected free speech rights." On the same day, the ministry described a review of the Act for free speech problems and said it was not contemplating any changes to it. As of Wednesday, Smith herself had said nothing publicly on Section 3 since Saturday, leaving the walk-back to a press secretary.
Five immigration questions passed in the Oct. 19 referendum, including proof of citizenship to vote, which carried with 58 per cent, after Prime Minister Mark Carney campaigned against them in Alberta. After the referendum, Smith told Rebel News reporter Angelica Toy the bills would come "in the spring," with details "in a few months' time." In both cases, a commitment made to a conservative audience was later softened or delayed, on the apparent assumption that supporters have nowhere else to go, though they could stay home if they felt demoralized.
Nenshi objected to the taxpayer cost, but repealing a section of a statute takes a one-line bill, and Parliament under Prime Minister Stephen Harper repealed the federal equivalent in 2013 through a private member's bill. The taxpayer money is going to the Pedersen tribunal, with lawyers, adjudicators and eight days of hearings over one flyer. The commission's own figures, cited by John Carpay of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms in the Western Standard, put Section 3 complaints at under one per cent of its caseload. If the section is that rarely used, repealing it would leave no one less protected, and keeping it preserves a tool for the occasional political case.
As Carpay noted in September, Sections 4 through 10, which bar discrimination in areas such as housing and employment, would remain in force. Repeal would end tribunal cases over published opinions without legalizing discrimination. Red Deer pastor Stephen Boissoin was ordered by a tribunal to pay $5,000 over a 2002 letter to the editor and was cleared by the Alberta Court of Appeal only in 2012.
The UCP's annual general meeting runs Nov. 27 to 29 in Calgary, and resolution WG-2026-P-22, which would scrap Section 3, is on the floor for members to rank. On Dec. 8, Pedersen returns to the tribunal for closing arguments. The Premier said on Saturday she was in an "active conversation" about prioritizing repeal. Her justice minister's press secretary said on Tuesday the government was "not contemplating any changes." As of Wednesday, Smith had not publicly clarified which position was hers.
GUEST: Conservative MP Andrew Lawton joins Ezra Levant to discuss life inside Pierre Poilievre’s caucus and how it contrasts with the mainstream media’s portrayal.
COMMENTS
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Gerry Gilchrist commented 2026-11-05 21:28:51 -0500 FlagI sent in a complaint about how i couldn’t find the Levant show tonight. Well after searching around i have found it but it was not easy. Did you change the format for presenting the show???