Will election law changes really give Albertans direct democracy access?
Premer Danielle Smith says she wants to see more citizen-initiated referendum questions on the ballot, through changes proposed in Bill 54, the Election Statutes Amendment Act. Here's how experts explain this approach, its benefits and pitfalls.
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CTV News
4 hours ago
- CTV News
AGLC to bring back liquor from United States ‘effective immediately'
A sign is placed in front of the American whiskey section at a B.C. liquor store after top selling American made products have been removed from shelves in Vancouver, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) will resume selling liquor products from the United States after a three month pause. In March, the AGLC stopped the sale of all American alcohol products. On Friday, the AGLC announced it will 'resume accepting liquor products from the United States, effective immediately,' at the direction of the provincial government. This will affect all liquor products registered with the AGLC and declared to Canada Border Services Agency. Products that were shipped from the U.S. after March 4 will continue to be subject to a surtax of 25 per cent of the invoice price, the AGLC added. The initial decision was made to support Canadian producers in the wake of U.S. tariffs, Premier Danielle Smith said in March. 'If the Americans aren't going to buy products from our Canadian companies, we have to,' the premier said. 'That means we should be buying more Canadian beer, more Canadian spirits and more Canadian wine. And so that's the reality of what we're facing.' CTV News Edmonton reached out to the province to ask why the decision to resume selling U.S. liquor was made. With files from CTV News Calgary's Kevin Green
CBC
8 hours ago
- CBC
Speech from OPEC head to kick off Global Energy Show in Calgary
More than 30,000 people from 100 countries are expected to descend on the white-collar heart of Canada's oilpatch next week for the Global Energy Show, which is to kick off with a keynote address from the head of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC secretary-general Haitham al-Ghais is set to deliver remarks on Tuesday morning, as recent output increases from his group's members and other producers have put pressure on global crude prices. Among the other speakers are 20 chief executives from major Canadian and international energy companies and several political leaders, including Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Energy show organizers say Calgary is expecting a 30 per cent increase in hotel bookings for the conference and trade show, and that exhibition space has been increased by one fifth year-over year. Nick Samain, senior vice-president at DMG Events, said as of two weeks before the event, pre-registrations were 78 per cent higher than last year. He says the show is seeing a big turnaround since the oil bust of 2015 and the COVID-19 pandemic. "There's a sense of optimism that the show really hasn't had in a long time," Samain said in an interview. "Operationally, we've been going crazy to make sure we've got enough room for everybody." The exhibition hall in the newly refurbished BMO Centre on the Calgary Stampede grounds is to feature a record 11 country pavilions and 500 company booths. Event rebranded in 2020 The event was called the Global Petroleum Show until 2020, when it was rebranded to highlight the growing number of non-oil-and-gas participants in the energy space, such as nuclear and renewables firms. Samain said at the trade show, oil and gas makes up about 70 per cent of exhibitors, with other forms of energy making up the rest. The conference comes as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff war throws global trade into disarray, raising the prospect of a global downturn that could dampen energy demand. The trade strife has driven calls for Canada to diversify its export markets for its energy products beyond its biggest customer, the United States, and remove some of the logjams that have prevented infrastructure from being built over the past several years. Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised to speed up and simplify the regulatory process for projects deemed in the national interest. Samain said the show is an opportunity for people to hash out competing views about Canada's energy future. "We're just big proponents of people meeting face to face," he said. "We find when people get together at an event like this, it really does [give] the opportunity for people maybe to see a different perspective." A week after the Global Energy Show, another major event drawing dignitaries from abroad is to take place in a popular recreation area in the Rocky Mountains an hour west of Calgary. Canada is to host leaders from the United States, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy and the European Union at the G7 summit from June 15 to 17 in Kananaskis.
Calgary Herald
9 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
As separatist talk simmers in Alberta and Quebec, Canadians say breaking up will be hard to do: poll
Article content Against a backdrop of fresh talk of Alberta separation and the constant spectre of Quebec's sovereignty movement, a new national opinion poll found that most Canadians say breaking up will be hard to do. Article content A large majority of respondents nationally said any secession by one province would require negotiation with all provinces and must be supported by a clear majority of voters in the province, and most said separation cannot be a unilateral decision, and it should require approval by the federal House of Commons. Article content Article content Article content A national opinion survey, conducted by Leger Marketing for the Association for Canadian Studies and provided to Postmedia, was designed to probe Canadians attitudes about the process for separation, rather than their views on separation itself, and what should follow a successful provincial leave referendum. Article content Article content 'The bottom line is that Canadians across the country envision the process as much more complex than a simple majority vote on a referendum question,' said Jack Jedwab, president of the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies. Article content Public discussion about Alberta separating from Canada drew more mainstream attention in May, after the federal election returned the Liberal Party to government and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith tabled provincial legislation to make it easier for Albertans to trigger a referendum on the province leaving the rest of Canada. Smith said she would hold such a referendum if a citizen petition called for it. Article content Article content Separatists in Quebec hope the renewed discourse on separation will boost their long-standing desire for independent statehood, which twice went to provincial referendum which failed to support sovereignty, in 1980 and 1995. The Parti Québécois plans another provincial sovereignty referendum in the years ahead. Article content That creates plenty of secessionist talk and debate, but it has been 30 years since Canada has seen an actual separation referendum. Article content 'Many Canadians of voting age and, of course, most immigrants didn't experience the last referendum 30 years ago, but there is a growing consensus that the rest of the country would want a say in the process and secession would not be simple,' said Jedwab. Article content The poll asked 1,537 people across Canada a series of questions on the mechanism of a possible separation. Article content Article content A majority of Canadians said any referendum question regarding provincial separation from Canada must be unambiguous, with 59 per cent of respondents agreeing with that, with only 11 per cent disagreeing, and 30 per cent saying they don't know or declined to answer.
