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Alberta announces new senatorial election in October 2021

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From the Province of Alberta: Battling back with a new Senate Election

Bill 13, the Alberta Senate Election Act, would reinstate Senate nominee elections to enable Albertans to choose who would best represent them in the Senate.

Premier Jason Kenney and Justice and Solicitor General Minister Doug Schweitzer announce Bill 13: The Alberta Senate Election Act.

Senate nominee elections would reflect the democratic will of Albertans and make senators directly accountable to Alberta voters to defend our province’s interests.

“We are introducing the Alberta Senate Election Act to enable Albertans to choose the people they think would best represent them in the Upper Chamber. Senators who are elected by Albertans have shown that they effectively stand up for Alberta’s economy, jobs and families. They set a strong example to other provinces of the benefits of having effective voices with the moral legitimacy of having been elected.” Jason Kenney, Premier

In the four elections between 1989 and 2012 held under the previous Senate elections law, which expired in 2016, Alberta voters nominated 10 candidates for Senate appointments. Of those, five were ultimately appointed, including current senators Doug Black and Scott Tannas, who recently stood up for Alberta’s economy and for resource jobs in Canada by advocating for changes to Bill C-69, the ‘No More Pipelines Bill’ and the prejudicial Bill C-48.

“Elected senators are accountable to Albertans and have greater moral legitimacy to effectively speak on our behalf because they receive a mandate from voters. When Albertans have had a say in who would best represent them in the Senate, they have chosen people of the highest calibre who have been effective voices for Alberta’s interests.” Doug Schweitzer, Minister of Justice and Solicitor General

“Alberta Senate nominee elections had played an important role in allowing Albertans to decide who will be their voice at the federal Parliament. These elections bestowed significant moral and political legitimacy to Alberta’s senatorial candidates. I was honoured to have won in the 2012 Alberta Senate nominee elections, and am proud to continue to serve alongside my fellow Albertan colleague, the Honourable Scott Tannas. The renewal of the Senatorial Selection Act is an important step forward for reasserting Alberta’s role as a leader in the democratization of the Canadian Senate.”Sen. Doug Black

“Since 1989, Alberta voters have gone to the polls to nominate their choice for who should represent them in Canada’s Senate. I am proud to be one of five elected candidates to have been appointed as a senator from Alberta. I am pleased to see the Government of Alberta is reviving the Senatorial Selection Act after the previous government refused to renew it. Albertans have a proud tradition of electing candidates for the Senate, and should continue to do so.”Sen. Scott Tannas

“As a proud Albertan and retired member of the Senate of Canada, I am pleased to see the introduction of Bill 13: The Alberta Senate Election Act. This act would revive Alberta’s proud history of leading and strengthening our shared Canadian democratic traditions. I have always firmly believed that a strong, democratic Senate is in the interest of provinces like Alberta that do not have adequate weight in the House of Commons but important regional interests. Under the leadership of Premier Jason Kenney, I am confident that this government will restore Alberta’s rightful voice and standing in federal politics.”Betty Unger, former senator

“In 2012, over 300,000 Alberta voters marked my name on their Senate election ballot. Despite that, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused to respect the wishes of Albertans, and instead appointed senators who voted against Alberta’s interests and in favour of the so-called ‘No More Pipelines Act,’ Bill C-69. It’s time for Albertans to once again have their say on who they want to see representing them in Ottawa.”Mike Shaikh, senate nominee

Quick facts

  • Alberta has six representatives in the Senate.
  • In 2012, 1.3 million Albertans voted in a Senate nominee election, which was held in conjunction with the provincial election.
  • In general, the law would allow for voting for Senate nominees:
    • as part of provincial or municipal elections
    • as a stand-alone process
    • with a referendum
  • The next scheduled Alberta Senate vacancy will be in March 2021.
  • The Government of Alberta would provide names of elected nominees to the prime minister for consideration when filling Senate vacancies.
  • The previous Senate elections legislation expired in 2016.

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Alberta

ASIRT investigations concluded on fatal officer-involved shooting involving the RCMP.

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Incident investigation report from the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT)

Introduction

On December 22, 2022, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) was directed pursuant to s. 46.1 of the Police Act to investigate a then non-fatal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer-involved shooting. The shooting of the affected person (AP) was reported to have happened during an interaction with him, as a result of him being a suspect in a complaint of a man with a gun.

While AP initially survived, he died of complications from the shooting the following day.

ASIRT’s Investigation

ASIRT’s investigation was comprehensive and thorough, conducted using current investigative protocols and principles relating to Major Case Management. Information from civilian witnesses, the subject and a witness officers, and importantly video recordings provided sufficient information to determine whether the force used by the subject officer during this incident was reasonable.

Circumstances Surrounding the Officer-Involved Shooting

On December 01, 2022, Maskwacis RCMP received a call reporting that a male [AP] had been drinking and left the caller’s house with a gun. AP was shooting the gun in the country (believed to be the area around the residence). Two RCMP officers responded.

Witness officer (WO) located AP walking on the road with a rifle. AP walked toward WO’s marked police vehicle with the rifle pointed at the vehicle/WO, while WO was seated in the driver’s seat. WO then exited his vehicle with his carbine rifle and moved to the rear of his vehicle while AP kept the rifle pointed at the police vehicle. The subject officer (SO) arrived on scene, but came from the opposite direction. AP turned around and walked toward SO with the barrel of the rifle pointed upwards. SO exited his police vehicle with his service pistol drawn and walked toward AP while he
repeatedly provided verbal direction to AP to drop the firearm. AP and SO were walking toward each other; at that time AP still had the barrel of the rifle pointed upward. As SO and AP got within approximately five meters of each other, AP lowered the barrel of the rifle and pointed it directly at SO. SO fired multiple rounds and struck AP with four rounds causing AP to stumble, drop the rifle and fall to the ground. AP initially survived the shooting and was transported to an Edmonton hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. The following day, AP succumbed to his injuries.

Analysis

The subject officer was lawfully placed and acting in the execution of his duties in dealing with AP as a person who was the subject of a complaint about him being in possession of a firearm and shooting it off.

The Use of Force

Under s. 25 of the Criminal Code, police officers are permitted to use as much force as is necessary for the execution of their duties. Where this force is intended or is likely to cause death or grievous bodily harm, the officer must believe on reasonable grounds that the force is necessary for the self-preservation of the officer or preservation of anyone under that officer’s protection.

A police officer’s use of force is not to be assessed on a standard of perfection nor using the benefit of hindsight.

With the benefit of hindsight, time for detached reflection and knowledge of the ultimate outcome, it is easy to speculate about how things could have been done differently. That is not the standard, however, against which an officer’s conduct is measured. The question is, applying principles of proportionality, necessity, and reasonableness, whether the force used falls into a range of possible reasonable responses.

Proportionate Response

Proportionality requires balancing a use of force with the action to which it responds. Here, the subject officers were faced with an individual that was armed with a gun and pointing it in their direction. As such, the response by the subject officers in using their respective firearms to shoot AP was proportionate to the threat of death or grievous bodily harm that he reasonably posed to both of them.

Reasonably Necessary

As set out previously in this report, AP presented as a lethal threat to both SO and WO given his actions in pointing his rifle at them. While WO did not shoot during this incident that does not impact the analysis of SO’s actions. Under the circumstances as then faced by SO, no other use of force options were reasonably available for attempted use. The use by SO of his firearm to incapacitate this lethal threat was reasonably necessary. Given the above, the defence available to SO under s. 25 of the Criminal Code would apply.

Conclusion

Under s. 25 of the Criminal Code a police officer is justified in doing what he or she is authorized to do and to use as much force as is reasonably necessary where he or she has reasonable grounds to do so. Force intended to cause death or grievous bodily harm is justified if the officer believes, on reasonable grounds, that the force was necessary to prevent the death or grievous bodily harm of the officer and/or any other person. The analysis under s.34 of the Criminal Code leads to a similar finding that subject officer’s actions were lawfully permitted.

After a thorough, independent and objective investigation into the conduct of the subject officers, it is my opinion that they were lawfully placed and acting properly in the execution of their duties. There is no evidence to support any belief that any officer engaged in any unlawful or unreasonable conduct that would give rise to an offence. The force used was proportionate, necessary and reasonable in all the circumstances.

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Alberta

Alberta requests more control over provincial immigration system

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Alberta is requesting more control over its provincial immigration to address its skilled workforce shortage, including increasing Ukrainian evacuee participation in the job market.

Premier Danielle Smith has written a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking him to re-evaluate his government’s decision limiting the number of allocations for Alberta’s provincial nominee program in 2024. Last week, the federal government informed the province it would only receive 9,750 such allotments – which is the same number of allocations Alberta received in 2023 and is less than the 10,140 for 2024 the federal government had originally allocated.

As of February 2024, Alberta accounts for just under 12 per cent of Canada’s population, but it leads the nation in net employment growth, with 42.8 per cent of the country’s employment gains between January and February 2024. By not providing the requested increase to Alberta’s provincial nominee allocations, the federal government is restricting the province’s ability to keep up with its growing labour market demands, especially as it relates to integrating Ukrainian evacuees into Alberta’s job market.

“Alberta is growing and that is good news. Since January 2023, more than 100,000 new jobs have been created in our province and our employment rate has led the country even longer. At the same time, we continue to experience labour shortages that could be resolved by welcoming skilled workers from around the world, including evacuees from Ukraine, many of whom have the exact skills that our job market most needs. Alberta has long been the economic engine of Canada and we are once again requesting Ottawa respect section 95 of the Constitution and let us welcome the skilled individuals we need into our province on our terms.”

Danielle Smith, Premier

With Alberta’s population growth at levels not seen in four decades, Alberta’s Provincial Nominee Program is best placed to address the province’s unique immigration and economic goals.

Part of Alberta’s population growth has resulted from Russia’s invasion in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since that time, Alberta has welcomed a significant number of Ukrainian evacuees to the province. While it is anticipated that many will return to Ukraine following the war, Alberta is also expecting a number of families to apply for permanent residency via the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program. An increase in the number of allocations from the federal government would assist these new Albertans to fill positions in the province’s workforce.

“Immigration is key to Alberta’s ability to address labour shortages and to grow our economy. This limitation imposed by the federal government on our provincial nominee program will be a very difficult pill to swallow, not only for businesses that need this skilled labour but also to the many Ukrainian evacuees who have the skills we need and wish to stay permanently in Alberta.”

Muhammad Yaseen, Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism

Quick facts

  • The federal government through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada sets provincial immigration nomination limits. It also approves all permanent resident applications.
  • Alberta maximized its 9,750 nomination allocations in 2023, with a total of 10,029 nominations issued within the federal government administrative buffer.

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