A new proposed law is aiming to establish a 12-month period of restriction before and after provincial elections for initiating or carrying on a citizen-led petition. If approved, Bill 23, known as the Justice Statutes Amendment Act, would eliminate deadlines for the government to trigger a referendum following a successful policy or constitutional petition in the future. Justice Minister Mickey Amery stated during a press briefing on Monday that fostering a democracy of trust and transparency involves encouraging diverse participation from all Albertans.
The government’s objective in instituting blackout periods around provincial elections is to provide a distinct timeframe for public evaluation of citizen petitions, separate from the period when policies are assessed during a general election. Amery emphasized the importance of ensuring that Albertans have unobstructed access to critical issues. The bill, which involves amendments to four statutes, would permit the designation of lawyers as scrutineers for citizen initiatives and recall applications. These scrutineers would supervise the verification of signatures by Election Alberta and could be appointed by any involved party, including petition proponents and named MLAs in a recall petition.
Additionally, the legislation introduces regulations concerning the production and dissemination of deepfake content targeting provincial political figures. Deepfakes are digitally manipulated or artificially created media that appear genuine. Amery highlighted that this measure aims to thwart election manipulation, with penalties of up to $10,000 for individuals and $100,000 for organizations that distribute misleading deepfakes involving party leaders, ministers, MLAs, electoral candidates, or Elections Alberta personnel.
Under the current Citizen Initiative legislation, the government must conduct a referendum before the next general election date if presented with a constitutional or policy question over a year prior to a fixed election date. The proposed Bill 23 seeks to eliminate this temporal requirement. Officials clarified that if the bill passes, it will not impact petitions initiated under previous regulations and assured that it would not apply retroactively.
A successful petition advocating for a referendum on Alberta’s status within Canada is advancing to a legislative committee for review. Former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk’s “Forever Canadian” petition, which gathered 438,568 valid signatures, is an example of a policy question initiated under the previous regulations. Meanwhile, a group named Stay Free Alberta is currently collecting signatures for a petition seeking a referendum on Alberta’s separation from Canada under the revised Citizen Initiative Act rules.
The proposed amendments mark the third significant revision to the Citizen Initiative Act by the United Conservative government and the second to the recall legislation since their introduction in 2021. Nonetheless, opposition parties have criticized the amendments as altering legislation arbitrarily without considering the essence of direct democracy. The changes are being proposed ahead of a fall referendum where Albertans will vote on various issues, including immigration restrictions.
Furthermore, Bill 23 also includes modifications to the disclosure rules for high-earning public sector employees, commonly referred to as sunshine lists. The legislation recommends expanding the listing of top salaries to cover government workers and public sector employees earning over $130,000 in base salary. The threshold adjustments for government workers and employees of agencies, boards, and commissions will now be tied to annual weighted average wage settlement increases rather than inflation. The revised rules emphasize transparency in publicly funded positions and aim to inform Albertans about compensation in these roles. Additionally, the bill abolishes the obligatory annual publication of severance agreements and payments for former employees in December.