Schow touches on Alberta Sovereignty Act

CARDSTON-SIKSIKA MLA JOSEPH SCHOW

By Cole Parkinson

Vauxhall Advance

With Bill 1, the Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act, getting its third reading on Dec. 8, reactions are filtering in across the province. For Cardston-Siksika MLA Joseph Schow, the bill was much needed and a good first step.

“I’ve been hearing for a very long time that Albertans are sick and tired of Ottawa intruding into Alberta’s jurisdiction. Whether it’s something significant like the fertilizer ban, which they have said is optional, but people are worried about that. Or something more minor, but Albertans feel very strongly that we need to have a mechanism that upholds the constitution and it respects our rights as a province,” he said. “I think this bill does that and I know there are a lot of misconceptions out there from the NDP and the detractors, but our premier and our government is taking steps to establish our place in confederation. I’m grateful that we’re doing that.”

While discussions are happening around when and where the province would utilize this bill Schow has a few ideas. With agriculture being a huge driver in the Cardston-Siksika riding, he pointed to the federal fertilizer reduction target as an area the province would look at.

“A perfect example is that fertilizer cap. A lot of attention, especially in our constituency, and environmental issues are provincial jurisdiction. There has been some concern from our agriculture producers that they are going to have to do something serious with their operations because of the fertilizer cap. That would be a great example of where we’d probably use it,” continued Schow.

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