Alberta plan would prevent another pandemic ruled by health bureaucrats
‘Public health decisions are ultimately political and should be decided by elected representatives’
As the United Conservative Party caucus returns to Edmonton this week following a successful convention in Calgary, they’ll dive right into a debate that gets to the heart of government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Just before heading south for the weekend’s festivities, the UCP tabled Bill 6, the public health amendment act. The bill, introduced last Thursday by Attorney General Mickey Amery, would enhance the decision-making power of elected officials during future public health emergencies.
If passed, Bill 6 would give cabinet the final say over general public health orders, including lockdowns, restrictions on businesses and school closures, in consultation with the province’s chief medical officer of health (CMOH). Public health officials, including the CMOH, would retain decision-making authority over more limited orders targeting individuals or public places (e.g., patient zero of a novel virus or a hospital hit by an outbreak).
The new legislation was drafted in response to last summer’s Ingraham decision, in which Court of King’s Bench Judge Barbara Romaine ruled that the cabinet of then-premier Jason Kenney had undermined the legal authority of the CMOH by introducing a host of COVID restrictions in 2020.
