Alberta’s judges are calling for respect days after Premier Danielle Smith said she wishes she could “direct” them.
The province’s three chief justices said in a rare public statement that democracy only functions when all three branches of government operate independently and respect each other’s role.
“It ensures judges can make decisions based solely on the law and evidence presented,” said the statement dated Tuesday. “It frees judges from pressure or influence from external sources including the governments that appoint us.”
(Scroll down to read the full statement.)
The statement is signed by acting Chief Justice of Alberta Dawn Pentelechuk, Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Kent Davidson and Court of Justice Chief Justice James Hunter.
Provincial court spokesperson Olav Rokne declined to link the statement specifically to the premier. “It is an educational piece aimed at public misunderstandings of the role of the courts and the role of justices,” he said.
In recent months, Smith has made a series of statements criticizing “activist” and “unelected” judges while expressing concerns that courts are undermining the decisions of elected leaders.
On her call-in radio show Your Province, Your Premier on Saturday, a caller asked Smith a question about bail laws and whether the government could “write some provincial rules to tune these judges in.”
Smith, in response, told QR Calgary and 880 CHED listeners that she wishes she could “direct” judges.
The caller was specifically referring to the case of Justin Bone, who is on trial for second-degree murder in the 2022 deaths of two men in Edmonton’s Chinatown.
Police have said Bone was released on bail a few days before he allegedly attacked the two men while they were at their respective workplaces. Grievances over bail decisions and rules are not new for Smith.
Smith went on to say that judges “get very, very prickly when you criticize them,” but that the criticism in that case was deserved.
The premier also said she’s trying to work with Ottawa to let her government assist in appointing new Court of King’s Bench justices so “that we start choosing judges in Alberta that reflect the values of how we want them to operate here.”
While the chief justices’ statement doesn’t refer to Smith’s comments, or any specific case, it says they recognize their role is to serve Albertans.
“We do this by upholding our oath of office to decide each case honestly, impartially, and to the best of our ability,” it reads.
“We know that our decisions can profoundly impact the people who come before the courts.”
Sam Blackett, the press secretary for the office of the premier, responded to the chief justices’ statement on Tuesday afternoon.
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“While recent court rulings have rightfully led Albertans and Canadians alike to question aspects of our criminal justice system, our government respects the role of each branch of government and supports their independence,” Blackett said.
Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, in a joint statement with his justice critic Irfan Sabir, said the “unprecedented” statement demonstrates how far the premier and her justice minister have gone to sow mistrust in the justice system.
“Every Albertan should be concerned about this. The rule of law is fundamental to a functioning society, and the cheap attacks, directly from the ‘Trump playbook,’ do not reflect Albertan or Canadian values,” they said.
Last fall, Smith and her United Conservative government drew criticism from inside and outside the justice system for legislation that included using the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to help end a provincewide teachers strike.
Smith defended the move at the time and took aim at the courts.
“Unelected judges making decisions, without any oversight, and without having to go to the people to get the democratic endorsement of their view — that’s not democracy,” Smith said at the time.
“When elected officials make decisions, that’s democracy.”
The notwithstanding clause was used three more times to shield from legal challenge a trio of laws affecting transgender people. Smith said she believes in parliamentary supremacy.
“We are not going to defer to unelected judges who do not have democratic accountability on their side,” she said during a heated November exchange in question period at the legislature.
Last month, Smith’s government directly faced criticism from a sitting judge after the government tabled legislation that rendered moot an ongoing court review of a proposed referendum question on Alberta separation.
Justice Colin Feasby was tasked with reviewing the constitutionality of the question, but the day before he issued his decision the government tabled legislation that would allow those behind the referendum push to apply again while also removing rules that proposed questions be constitutional.
Feasby, who issued his decision regardless, found the question unconstitutional under the old rules. He called the government’s legislation “extraordinary” in that it directly went against “the stable, predictable and ordered society that the rule of law contemplates, and democracy demands.”
In December, Smith was asked why her government intervened in the legal process, and said she didn’t want to see “gatekeepers” get in the way of direct democracy.
“Whether it’s the chief electoral officer or the court, they seem to want to approve the (citizen-initiative petitions) they like and hold up the ones they don’t like, and that’s not democracy,” Smith said.
Smith was publicly reprimanded by the province’s ethics commissioner in 2023 after an investigation found the premier undermined democracy and broke conflict-of-interest rules by trying to intervene in a criminal case and pressuring her attorney general to make the case go away.
A report released by Marguerite Trussler, the commissioner at the time, said Smith discussed the case directly with the accused, who was later convicted of mischief in a border blockade to protest COVID-19 pandemic rules.
Trussler said Smith compounded the error — and broke Alberta’s ethics rules — by phoning Tyler Shandro, her justice minister and attorney general at the time, to pressure him to drop the case.
Statement by the Chief Justices of Alberta Courts
“As proud Albertans, we care deeply about this province and the people of Alberta. The judges on Alberta’s three courts – the Court of Justice, the Court of King’s Bench and the Court of Appeal – recognize that our fundamental role is to serve Albertans. We do this by upholding our oath of office to decide each case honestly, impartially, and to the best of our ability. We know that our decisions can profoundly impact the people who come before the courts. We take this responsibility seriously.
A properly functioning democracy requires three separate branches of government that exercise their power and authority independently according to the Constitution.
The executive branch makes policy and manages government operations. The legislative branch makes laws. In turn, the judicial branch interprets and applies those laws to disputes brought before the courts. If a party requests it, judges may be required to interpret and apply the Constitution and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and make a ruling.
The independence of each branch ensures there are checks and balances across the system. It is the foundation of a healthy democracy. Public trust and confidence in our institutions – and all three branches of government – depend on it. It is equally important that each branch respect and support the independence of the others.
Independence of the judicial branch protects the public. It ensures judges can make decisions based solely on the law and evidence presented. It frees judges from pressure or influence from external sources including the governments that appoint us.
Each day in Alberta’s courthouses, judges apply the law – to protect individual rights, decide disputes fairly and hold parties, including governments, accountable. The rule of law means no one is above the law, everyone is treated equally before the law, and power is not used arbitrarily. Alberta’s judges will continue to do this work faithfully.
Alberta’s judges are Albertans, like the people we serve. We are proud of the work judges and staff do every day to protect the rights of all Albertans and to safeguard our democracy.”
— With a file from Karen Bartko, Global News