While there is plenty of speculation the Alberta budget will be followed by a snap election, court action has been started in an effort to keep that possibility from becoming a reality.
A legal team for Edmonton lawyer Tom Engel has filed a court challenge to prevent Premier Jim Prentice from calling an election.
The court challenge states there is fixed election date legislation mandating a vote between March and May 2016.
That time frame is included in Alberta’s Election Act, which was introduced by the PCs and passed in 2011.
“It kind of grinds one’s gears when you see these promises being made by government and legislation brought in to back up those promises and then they just disregard it,” Engel said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
The challenge claims an election is only possible if there is a vote of non-confidence in the legislature, and any other reason would be illegal.
Prentice has not ruled out calling an early election in an effort to get a mandate to deal with Alberta’s financial problems.
“Every province that has a fixed election law has a qualification indicating that it is subject to the lieutenant-governor’s authority. Otherwise it would not be constitutional,” Justice Minister Jonathan Denis told The Canadian Press.
“Anybody can take a matter like this to court. Whether or not it has any chance of succeeding, I’ll leave that up to the court to decide.”
Engel said he hopes to have a court date next week.
With files from The Canadian Press
