An Alberta panel aimed at finding ways the province can strengthen its autonomy has offered up seven recommendations, including options for referendum topics.
The Alberta Next panel, made up of 15 people and chaired by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, released its report Friday afternoon after holding town hall meetings in 10 communities across the province over the summer and fall.
The recommendations relate to self-government, a provincial pension plan, personal income tax, equalization and federal transfers, a provincial police service, immigration and constitutional reform.
“Through Alberta Next, Albertans were clear that for too long, decisions made outside this province have limited Alberta’s ability to grow our economy and chart our own course,” Smith said in a news release accompanying the report.
The panel recommends the province hold a referendum on establishing an Alberta pension plan leaving the Canada Pension Plan. But the panel says that Albertans would first need a detailed proposal outlining the benefits and risks.
The panel is also recommending the province proceed with a referendum on exercising more control over immigration, including attracting more economic migrants and “limiting eligibility for social services to citizens, permanent residents and individuals with an immigration permit.”
A referendum on “specific constitutional amendments” is also recommended by the panel, stating the province should work with other provinces to opt-out of federal programs affecting provincial jurisdiction without losing funding, permit provinces to appoint their own King’s Bench and Court of Appeal judges and abolish the federal senate.
The panel also recommends the province take a leading role in working with Ottawa and other provinces to reform equalization.
The recommendations say the government should continue its work in establishing an Alberta Police Service “and transition community policing services from the RCMP to the APS and municipal policing services”
Smith said the government will review the recommendation before responding in the months ahead.
Naheed Nenshi, leader of the official opposition NDP, likened the initiative to a “fake consultation.”
“So they spent millions of dollars on the Alberta Next panel. Now they’re going to spend millions of dollars on referenda when Albertans have been very clear, they don’t want an Alberta Police Service, they don’t want an Alberta Pension Plan,” Nenshi said in an interview Friday afternoon.
“They want the government to stop fighting and start focusing on cost of living, on jobs, on health care and on education, the things that New Democrats focus on.”
The panel was made up of professionals from different sectors, such as business and finance, health, agriculture and energy.
The panel meetings were held in Edmonton, Red Deer, Sherwood Park, Fort McMurray, Lloydminster, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Airdrie, Grande Prairie and Calgary, as well as one online town hall.
More than 5,000 Albertans participated in the events, the report says.
