Albertans should be accepting notice of Bill 81

Key takeaways: 

• Bill 81 could be a precursor of something to arrive in 2022, reports columnist Graham Thomson.
• Bill 81 should be taken by Albertans. 

Bill 81 for Albertans: 

Bill 81, The Election Statutes Amendment Act, has a label created to place the average Albertan to sleep.

But this is the amount of legislation that flashed a sore argument in the legislative assembly and held MLAs up awake until 3 a.m. Wednesday before a majority of government members rammed the bill around.

The discussion was long, wild and at one time had the deputy Speaker of the assembly describing the government House leader, in multiple words, to sit down and shut up.

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The argument over Bill 81 revealed so many of the fault bars flying through the political landscape that it was rather much a microcosm of Alberta politics in 2021.

Not just did it once again pit the NDP Opposition against the UCP government, it also showed conflict inside the UCP caucus, showed ongoing divisions within Alberta’s conservative movement, and showed Premier Jason Kenney’s tendency to gather a top-down authoritarian style of leadership to succeed the day. Bill 81 is a huge piece of legislation considering in at nearly 170 pages and is so significant it should be called William 81, not a sheer Bill.

Even if you dozed off at the word of The Election Statutes Amendment Act, you should watch about Bill 81; regarding what it could have done, what it will do and, ominously, what it might eventually do.