Mark Carney must flatly reject Danielle Smith’s latest round of anti-constitutional posturing by Emmett Macfarlane, Feb 04, 2026, Defending Canadian Democracy
Danielle Smith has threatened to withhold provincial funding for new judicial appointments unless the province gets more of a say in selecting judges. It is an attack on the separation of powers, on judicial independence, on access to the justice system, and on the constitutional structures animating the administration of justice in this country.
This new assault on the constitution comes on the heels of an unprecedented situation in which the chief justices of three Alberta courts issued a powerful statement defending the separation of powers and judicial independence after Smith suggested she wanted the power to ‘direct’ judges.
There has been an increasing tendency of right-wing populist attacks on the judiciary from sitting politicians recently, and Smith is at the forefront.
The courts are not above criticism. Judges can get it wrong. And they are not immune from politics. Under the division of powers, and especially under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, courts are presented with questions to which the law doesn’t always provide a clear answer, embedded as they are with profound social, moral, and philosophical concerns.
Yet that judging can be political, and court rulings have political implications, does not mean judging is just the same as partisan politics. Indeed, the judicial role is a distinct one, following a distinct form of reasoning in which judges politician inclinations are conditioned and constrained. Danielle Smith has shown no appreciation for the distinct nature of the judicial role. She believes appointments are nothing more than proxies for federal politics. It is an attitude we must fight, for otherwise we could undermine one of our main bulwarks of democracy.
We must resist the forces in Canada who want to turn judicial appointments into a polarized, partisan process. We see what that cultural attitude has wrought for the United States, where their courts now struggle with their fingers plugging the dam of a broken democracy, and where their top court has fallen to naked corruption, its six-judge majority having abandoned the rule of law entirely.
The law in Canada – already the most decentralized federation in the world – must not be subject to regionally-based, populist-infused jealousies and recriminations of a separatist-enabling ideologue like Danielle Smith. The very existence of her threat to withhold funding for judges is proof she’s not qualified to weigh in on Mark Carney’s breakfast order, let alone the federal selection process for courts in this country.
Ms Smith is leading a Radical Right coup in Alberta. We in Alberta see it. I agree that the federal government needs to be clear eyed and reject this latest move by the Alberta government. Ms Smith “demands” are not supported by the majority of Albertans.
Charity Erickson:
This is getting really scary.
joanne sasges:
Thank you for speaking truth to power and somebody get the Alberta Government a copy of the Constitution! Premier Smith has repeatedly shown since her first days in office that she fails to understand the limited power she holds judicially. Or that our Justice System, while decentralized, is constitutionally the responsibility of the Federal government. This ensures separation of powers, independence (thank God) and equitable treatment across our vast country.
Kathleen:
Smith’s behaviour has become ever more Trumpian. Her arrogance is such that she doesn’t even try to hide her motives. She has been dishonest with citizens from the beginning. 
I’ve never heard Smith be honest. She’s a TWATZI like her evil twin puppy killer Noem.Indeed, the Prime Minister of AB continues to cause disruption to rip AB from Canada while relying on past folklore to “blame Ottawa”.
Michael Butler:
Hear. Hear. Thank you. The last thing we should be adopting from south of the border is their idea of the rule of law. Like you say, our system is not perfect, but it is working.
Kevan:
Having already rejigged the legislative process in a retroactive manner for protection and profit of her and her minions, and ensuring her traitorous followers have no oversight on their petitions while trampling on the human rights of tens of thousands of Albertans, Smith now wanting to politicize the judicial appointments process for senior level courts should not come as a surprise.
She already hands out provincial court justice’s appointments as rewards, surprised Rath hasn’t been handed one (yet)?
Smith’s now clearly apparent motivations are POWER, and future PROFIT for her and her friends. The parallels to POTUS are frightening.
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