Premier Smith vows to 'vigorously' defend Alberta's jurisdiction

Danielle Smith's first press conference as Alberta premier was dominated by questions probing her vision of what the province's relationship with Ottawa should look like.

Following her swearing-in ceremony and first cabinet meeting, Smith held her first media availability since becoming premier Tuesday afternoon.

Smith says Canada represents a "unique constitutional situation," a blend of the American and U.K. systems. She explained how the U.S. top court has final say on a matter, whereas the parliamentary system recognizes parliamentary supremacy in lawmaking.

That represents the opportunity to exercise more autonomy in matters of provincial jurisdiction, Smith said.

"We have a system where it's a conversation between the legislatures and the courts," she said, adding that there are times where Ottawa, provinces, or the courts "don't always get it right."

"I know it's a little bit alarming for Alberta to finally say we've had enough of how the country is run, we've had enough of how Justin Trudeau is treating us, but we have had enough," Smith added.

"We are now going to take the lead on making sure we are getting our own resources to market, and we protect our citizens here and that we defend all areas of our jurisdiction."

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'WE WILL NOT FAIL'

In her view, part of the problem is that Alberta has not fully exerted its areas of influence in policy-making.

She cited the example of the federal Liberal announcement in 2019 of reducing plastic waste, where provinces were offered the opportunity to create their own standards and targets.

"We have a great deal of latitude to establish policy and a framework in our own way," Smith said. "If we had just established a proper framework for how we wanted to deal with plastics pollution, then we wouldn't be having this litigation."

Last month, Alberta announced it would challenge Ottawa's ruling, labelling all plastic manufactured items as a "toxic substance."

"The way I look at the way our country is supposed to work is that if we fail in our principal role of legislating in an emerging area, the federal government will legislate for us," the premier said.

"I assure you, we will not fail in legislating in areas of our jurisdiction and give Ottawa that opportunity."

When it comes to Canadian Supreme Court rulings, Smith said she would follow them, since the top court is the "ultimate arbiter" of justice — unless there was a way to re-litigate them.

"When things get decided by the Supreme Court," Smith said, "we will abide by the decision."

"But up until that point, we are vigorously going to defend every area of our constitutional jurisdiction."