The Alberta Bill of Rights Amendment Act: What Does It Mean for Gun Owners?

“The [Alberta] Bill of Rights has served its purpose well over the years. But, as our society evolves, so too must our laws to ensure our rights and freedoms remain properly protected in an ever-changing world,” said Premier Danielle Smith.^[i]

One of those updates includes enshrining “the right of individuals to legally acquire, keep, and safely use firearms” into Alberta’s Bill of Rights.^[ii]

The uproar over this clause was as predictable as rain in Vancouver or 24-hour darkness in the Arctic winter.

“The United Conservative Party board has approved a gun rights law that would make American firearms advocates would drool with envy,” wrote Don Braid.^[iii]

“The UCP proposal is not ambiguous,” he continued. “It places no limit on the individual right to own and use any kind of firearms, in whatever quantity.”

Braid’s verbal handwringing grossly overstates the impact of this proposed amendment, even if it were passed as is.

The regulation of firearms in Canada is federal jurisdiction, and that regulatory scheme has 30 years of legislative and legal precedent behind it.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that “Canadians, unlike Americans, do not have a constitutional right to bear arms.”^[iv]

Whether we agree with it or not, the Supreme Court also unanimously upheld the Firearms Act as a valid exercise of Parliament’s criminal law power under section 91(27) of the Constitution Act, 1867.^[v]

While others may speculate on what proposed changes to the Alberta Bill of Rights might mean, Alberta Chief Firearms Officer Dr. Teri Bryant steadfastly focuses on what is, as she should.

“Changes to the Alberta Bill of Rights have not passed in the Legislature,” Alberta CFO Teri Bryant wrote in an email to CSSA.

“We cannot begin to assess their impact until the relevant bill has passed and the final wording is known. Similarly, until the Sovereignty Act is invoked, it is premature to speculate on what its impact would be.”

“In both cases, however, it is clear that Alberta’s government is determined to protect law-abiding firearms owners, and indeed all Albertans, from federal government overreach that imposes needless burdens on the law-abiding while failing to focus on illegal activity.”

The proposed firearms amendment may sound fantastic to some and dangerous to others but, given the inclusion of the Charter’s weasel words, the wording is probably irrelevant even if passed verbatim.

The proposed amendments to Alberta’s Bill of Rights import the Charter’s Section 1 weasel words in this form:

“The rights and freedoms recognized and declared by this Act are subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic Alberta.”

As we saw throughout the COVID era and beyond, judges – without exception and at every level of jurisdiction – ruled that COVID trumped the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, supposedly the highest law in the land.

Does this mean Alberta shouldn’t add “the right of individuals to legally acquire, keep, and safely use firearms” into Alberta’s Bill of Rights?

Of course not.

These words have no legal or constitutional weight, but they clarify Alberta’s determination to, as Dr. Teri Bryant said, “protect law-abiding firearms owners, and indeed all Albertans, from federal government overreach…”

Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government lives in the land of government overreach in almost every area of Canadians’ lives. That Alberta is willing to use every tool it its toolbox to stop the federal government from intruding into provincial jurisdiction is a good thing, and we should applaud those measures.