Kenney provides massive boost to volunteer militias, as Alberta slips away from democracy
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Written by: Dustin Olson
Built into the liberal democratic tradition is that living well together requires adherence to a set of rules. These rules form the basis of the legal system and purport to provide structure and stability to social interaction. By its nature, the law limits individual freedom. This limitation is justified, however, insofar as the justice system is truly just. Individual liberty and moral equality among a populace are democratic cornerstones. The legal system, when functioning consistently with a democratic mandate, serves to provide assurances that these cornerstones are upheld. In principle, no one should be above the law and all who are its subjects should equally benefit from it.
Although no one is above the law, there are those with the responsibility to create law and oversee its enforcement. Governments at all levels play this duel role. Without proper independent checks and balances on our political representatives, however, individuals can manipulate state power to serve individual interests. Under these circumstances, the law no longer serves public interest; under these circumstances, state power and the laws used to enforce state power lose legitimacy.
Consider, for example, the Alberta provincial government’s Bill 1, the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act. This bill, and how it was implemented, should raise red flags for anyone concerned with liberty and the sanctity of law. This bill forbids anyone from ‘obstructing, interrupting, or interfering with’ essential infrastructure, such as highways, railways, mines, pipelines, and oil and gas production facilities. In other words, under certain parameters, this bill makes the right of assembly and peaceful protest illegal.
Bill 1 has sparked backlash from a number of diverse groups, including the Alberta Federation of Labour, the University of Calgary Law faculty, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and the Assembly of First Nations. These agencies accuse the Jason Kenny led UCP government of over-extending its powers, favouring business interests over the public good. Indeed, many have noted that Bill 1 is unconstitutional and does not comply with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Despite these concerns, Bill 1 received little debate in the Alberta Legislature and was given Royal Assent on June 17, 2020.
Perhaps of even greater concern is the legal powers now provided to the Alberta government. First, the definition of ‘essential infrastructure’ is quite broad, lending itself to vagueness concerning its legitimate application. With fuzzy boundaries for its application, this law is ripe for abuse by any government. Moreover, if law allows a government to prevent citizens from peacefully assembling, then that law is illegitimate. The right of assembly is necessary in a democracy expressly to prevent unjustified state power. Preventing such rights illegitimately restricts individual liberty and a populace’s capacity to petition their government by means other than the façade of democracy that is the four year election cycle.
It is not inconsequential that Bill 1 was introduced at a time when supporters of treaty-backed indigenous land claims were protesting pipeline expansion through First Nation lands. The most notable of these claims were made by hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en First Nations in British Columbia. Support for the Wet’suwet’en manifested in blockades throughout Canada, including a number of railroad blockades in Alberta. These actions proved inconvenient for the UCP and their financial backers in the oil and gas industry. Bill 1 was thus introduced.
As innocuous as one bill may seem, we must remember that democracy is at all times at risk of being lost. When state power prevents individual citizens from exercising their rights, democracy is undermined. We can note sobering examples of such powers employed recently in the US. Unmarked, anonymous, and militarized federal law enforcement officials were found detaining US citizens without due cause or due process across the country—most recently observed in Portland, Oregon. These actions are of course legal due to the Bush era Patriot Act, which was extended by President Obama. This act forsakes Habeas Corpus, enabling warrantless spying on and detaining of American citizens. Under these parameters, law enforcement looks a lot more like Brown Shirts than keepers of the peace. Under such parameters, state power loses legitimacy and the law is no longer binding.
With these points in mind, it is also of interest that the UCP is now proposing an Alberta provincial police force. There is indeed precedent for these types of provincial forces, both historically and currently in Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland. Additionally, with austerity measures dating back to the Harper Government, the RCMP has been understaffed, under-funded, and over worked. The result has been a federal institution stretched thin in many areas within its jurisdiction, such as rural parts of Alberta. Citizens might indeed be well-served by more police enforcement in these areas. And undoubtedly the RCMP would welcome provincial support. Given Kenny’s recent austerity measures, which include slashing funds to vital social services like education and healthcare, however, it is curious that he would want to lose federal funds for policing, which amounts to 30% of all rural policing costs.
One measure that would alleviate the loss of funds, while attempting to lower rural crime rates, was introduced to the Alberta Legislature by the UCP MLA Todd Loewen in early July. Loewen proposal is to organize a civilian volunteer police corps to assist policing in rural areas. Rural and low population centers throughout Canada have successfully introduced civilian programs, such as search and rescue, traffic control, and citizens watches. Such initiatives have indeed worked well, when instituted with proper care and due dilligence.
Despite the success of some civilian police corps programs, there is cause for skepticism in Alberta’s circumstances. First, although the UCP repeatedly defend the motion by insisting that it will not replace police or allow for vigilantism or militias, Loewen’s language use when describing the motion’s motivation is disquieting: “We want volunteers to assist our province’s law enforcement in getting the bad guys behind bars and the people of Alberta kept safe.” Helping law enforcement direct traffic is one thing; assisting them ‘in getting the bad guys behind bars’ is quite another.
Additionally, Premier Kenny has a history of base pandering, intentionally sewing discord among the populace, and acting inappropriately with regards to law. In 2018, for example, Kenny contributed to an Edouard Maurice’s civil defence fund after the Maurice unintentionally shot a trespasser and theif on his Alberta farm. Kenny’s act hardly inspires confidence. Concerns of viglilantism, power abuse, and frontier justice seem reasonable when the premier condones reckless firearm use. Under such leadership, evidence suggests that the UCP lacks the capacity to responsibly institute and oversee a civilian police corps. They seem to have a difficult enough time recognizing basic civil liberties.
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