This is a draft prepared by one contributor, published for public discussion. Nothing here is an adopted position of the project or a proposal it endorses. The purpose is to learn where Albertans agree, disagree, and want changes.
Amendment by Legislative Supermajority and Referendum
Alberta alone
Alberta can adopt this now under its own authority (Constitution Act, 1982, s.45).
Current Law
Alberta does not have a written provincial constitution today. Amendment of the constitution of the province is exclusively within the legislature of Alberta under Constitution Act, 1982 s.45. Alberta's referendum law is the Referendum Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. R-8.5.
Proposed
This Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds majority of all Members of the Assembly of Alberta, and ratified by a majority of the people of Alberta in a province-wide referendum, held no sooner than ninety days and no later than one hundred and eighty days after legislative approval.
Citizen-Initiated Amendments
Alberta alone
Alberta can adopt this now under its own authority (Constitution Act, 1982, s.45).
Current Law
Alberta's Citizen Initiative Act, S.A. 2021, c. C-15.3, allows electors to propose legislation and policy questions by petition. The Act does not currently provide for citizen-initiated constitutional amendments, because there is no provincial constitution to amend.
Proposed
The people of Alberta reserve the right to propose constitutional amendments by citizen initiative.
To qualify, a petition must be signed by at least ten percent of eligible voters across Alberta, must include support from at least seven percent of eligible voters in two-thirds of provincial constituencies, and the proposed amendment must be reviewed by a non-partisan legal commission for clarity and consistency.
Upon validation, the proposed amendment shall be submitted to a binding province-wide referendum. If approved by majority vote, the amendment becomes law.
Entrenched Clauses
Alberta alone
Alberta can adopt this now under its own authority (Constitution Act, 1982, s.45).
Current Law
Entrenchment of provisions of a provincial constitution is allowed under Constitution Act, 1982 s.45 if expressed in the constitution itself. The procedure that the section requires is set out in Article XV of this draft.
Proposed
Certain provisions of this Constitution are entrenched1 and may not be amended by the standard legislative and referendum procedure described herein.
The list of entrenched Articles and the procedure for their amendment are set forth in Article XV.
No amendment to an entrenched provision shall be valid unless passed through a constitutional convention and ratified by unanimous consent of all electoral districts, as provided in Article XV.
Legal accuracy note1Effect of entrenchment on a future Assembly. A provincial constitution may prescribe a higher amendment threshold for itself. Whether one Assembly can bind a future Assembly through entrenchment is contested in Canadian constitutional theory, but entrenchment by reference to a referendum or supermajority requirement is widely accepted as a valid expression of s.45 authority. The unanimity of electoral districts threshold in Article XV is itself an entrenched provision and could only be relaxed through the procedure it establishes.
Emergency Amendments
Alberta alone
Alberta can adopt this now under its own authority (Constitution Act, 1982, s.45).
Current Law
There is no equivalent in Alberta law today. Federal emergencies are governed by the Emergencies Act, S.C. 1988, c. 29 (4th Supp.), which does not allow constitutional amendment by emergency decree.
Proposed
In a time of declared war, insurrection, or external threat1, the Assembly may enact temporary emergency amendments with a three-quarters vote.
Such amendments shall expire within one year unless ratified by referendum, and must be certified as necessary for provincial security by a Judicial Oversight Commission.
Legal accuracy note1Scope of emergency amendments. The section as drafted allows temporary constitutional amendments by a three-quarters vote of the Assembly during war, insurrection, or external threat, with a one-year sunset and Judicial Oversight Commission certification. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms continues to apply during provincial emergencies, and Charter s.33 (the notwithstanding clause) cannot be used to suspend Charter sections 3 to 6 or sections 16 to 23. Any emergency amendment that engaged Charter rights would have to satisfy s.1 (reasonable limits in a free and democratic society) or invoke s.33.
Interpretation
Needs other governments7/50
Requires a negotiated agreement with other provinces and/or the Government of Canada.
Current Law
Canadian courts apply purposive interpretation to constitutional text (Hunter v. Southam Inc., [1984] 2 SCR 145; R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd., [1985] 1 SCR 295). A directive that interpretation favour deliberative democracy and the sovereign right of the people is consistent with that approach.
Proposed
This article shall be interpreted in favour of deliberative democracy, constitutional stability, and the sovereign right of the people to approve any lasting change to their government.
Constitutional Conventions
Alberta alone
Alberta can adopt this now under its own authority (Constitution Act, 1982, s.45).
Current Law
Alberta has no statutory framework for a constitutional convention today. Section 45 does not require any particular procedure for amending a provincial constitution; the province sets its own.
Proposed
The process for convening a constitutional convention, required for the amendment of entrenched provisions as set forth in Article XV, shall be established by statute.
In the absence of such a statute, the Assembly may initiate a constitutional convention by a resolution passed with a two-thirds majority of all Members. The Assembly shall, by the same vote, adopt interim procedural rules governing the convention's composition, deliberation, and scope, subject to judicial review for consistency with this Constitution.
The outcome of any constitutional convention shall not take effect unless ratified by unanimous consent of all electoral districts of Alberta, in accordance with Article XV.
Standard amendments require a two-thirds Assembly vote and a province-wide referendum
Citizen-initiated amendments by petition, legal review, and referendum
Certain provisions are entrenched and amendable only by constitutional convention with district-wide unanimity
Temporary emergency amendments with a three-quarters threshold, sunset, and judicial certification
Statutory framework for constitutional conventions, with an Assembly fallback
Why this article is proposed
Provincial constitutions can include their own amendment procedures. Without one, any rule in the provincial constitution could be changed by simple majority of the Assembly. This article would make ordinary amendment require a two-thirds Assembly vote plus a province-wide referendum, and would make a smaller list of entrenched provisions require a constitutional convention plus district-wide unanimity.
What it would change
The standard amendment route is a two-step process: Assembly supermajority followed by referendum. The article also creates a citizen-initiated amendment process, an emergency amendment process limited to declared war or insurrection with a one-year sunset, and an interpretive direction favouring deliberative democracy. The most demanding rule, applicable only to the entrenched provisions listed in Article XV, is unanimity of all electoral districts at a constitutional convention.
The legal basis
Constitution Act, 1982 s.45 lets the legislature of each province amend the constitution of the province exclusively. That includes the power to prescribe how the provincial constitution itself is amended. The article does not touch any subject within ss.41, 42, or 43, so it is reachable by Alberta acting alone.
Open questions
Three questions for Albertans: whether the thresholds (two-thirds Assembly plus majority referendum) are the right balance between stability and democratic responsiveness; whether the entrenched list (six articles, all involving rights or fiscal restraint) is the right scope of entrenchment; and whether district-wide unanimity at a constitutional convention is a workable threshold or a permanent freeze on entrenched provisions.
Revision 12026-05-20
major
Initial draft of Article V from the v2 draft constitution, with per-section classification, current-law context, and editorial notes.