Premier Smith to protect Albertans from medical coercion in fall legislation
Premier Danielle Smith confirmed Albertans can refuse a vaccine, and the province intends to protect that right in an upcoming bill of rights amendment.
“In the fall, we will be introducing legislation to amend Alberta’s Bill of Rights,” reads an emailed statement from the Premier’s Office (PO). “Several amendments are being considered to strengthen Albertans’ individual and property rights, including an amendment to guarantee Albertans the right to accept or refuse a medical treatment.”
Smith renewed the pledge during a July 19 Bonnyville town hall with United Conservative members. She discussed protecting the rights and freedoms of residents in front a few hundred supporters.
The move, popular among the Conservative grassroots, represents a campaign promise that helped elect the premier more than two years ago. UCP members also voted in near-unanimous fashion last November 2 to oppose medical coercion.
Job creators in Calgary fear that it's only a matter of time before the Alberta health authorities step in, all because they refuse to fire unvaccinated employees or question customers on their jab status.
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) September 11, 2021
FULL REPORT from @ATSoos: https://t.co/sSE8HUWGoX pic.twitter.com/UUsP2W2dPT
Last summer, Smith promised to amend the Alberta Human Rights Act to prohibit employers from firing unvaccinated staff.
The premier said “tens of thousands” were coerced into taking the COVID-19 jab for fear of losing their job during the pandemic. Thousands more lost their jobs.
She also promised to ban universities and colleges from mandating vaccines for students to attend campus.
“This was a human rights violation,” Smith said at the time. She ultimately scrapped these plans after getting elected.
With the exception of the Alberta Bill of Rights, the Public Health Act takes precedence over all other laws. A human rights act amendment would have little leverage over public health mandates, reported True North.
New Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says when addressing the unvaccinated, "they're the most discriminated against group that I've ever witnessed in my lifetime."
— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) October 11, 2022
Help us: https://t.co/7nVtGi1tSdpic.twitter.com/SEOuirjMAE
Rebel News did not hear from the PO on why Smith took years to pursue a chief campaign promise in her leadership bid for the party. She previously called the unvaccinated the “most discriminated against group” in her lifetime.
Rebel also tried to reach the Ministry of Health for comment on whether the government faced pressure from Alberta Health Services (AHS), the province’s regional health authority. We did not receive comment at publication.
Among Smith’s first actions as premier was firing all 11 members of the health authority’s board of directors after giving the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the boot.
Hinshaw and the AHS advised former premier Jason Kenney to implement vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic. He promptly closed schools and churches.
The congregation at Pastor James Coates' GraceLife Church was kind enough to allow Sheila Gunn Reid to attend their illegal church service at a secret location in rural Alberta.
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) April 19, 2021
https://t.co/UF7WOAiPkL
AHS officers frequently visited churches and businesses to ensure compliance with protocols, fining or shutting down those that did not comply.
A Leger poll commissioned by Rebel News uncovered 73% of United Conservative Party supporters want pandemic prosecutions against pastors and small businesses dropped by the Alberta government. Premier Smith backtracked a promise last January to grant them amnesty, claiming Canada ‘works differently’ than other jurisdictions,
Her commitment to amend the bill of rights follows a November 15 report into the province's management of public health emergencies.
Preston Manning, chair of Alberta's Public Health Emergencies Governance Review Panel, delivered over 90 recommendations for consideration after Smith asked for a detailed review of the Public Health Act and its implementation last January.
When pressed by @SydFizzard about an unvaccinated Albertan woman waiting for an organ transplant, Premier Smith says, "Organ transplants are complicated...and they're made by a national body on the basis of survivability...I'll defer to the experts on that."
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) May 25, 2023
SEE MORE:… pic.twitter.com/2ee8QjMQRu
Among the recommendations included striking a balance between protecting residents from harm and defending Charter rights and freedoms. “Amend the Alberta Bill of Rights and Alberta’s Employment Standards Code and Health Professions Act to protect the rights and freedoms of all Albertans, including workers and healthcare professionals, and the freedom of expression during public emergencies,” the report said.
Premier Smith lauded the bill of rights revisions as the “biggest recommendations” Manning tabled, “which I was pleased to see,” she said.
Smith last December 18 said her government would review revisions to the bill of rights. “[It] can be strengthened to make sure people have the choice to make their own medical decisions," she told the Shaun Newman Podcast.
“We don’t want freedom of speech being infringed during times of crisis, and make sure we don’t have bank accounts frozen,” she said.
Manning told reporters last November 15 that he hopes the province will adopt these recommendations to cope with future emergencies and protect Albertans. “Their personal livelihoods, civil liberties, and mental health can be mitigated to the greatest extent possible,” he said.
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