Spring session saw several troubling bills pass into law

By Lethbridge Herald on May 24, 2025.

Rob Miyashiro
Lethbridge West MLA

After some very long nights in the Legislature in May when the government kept invoking closure of debate and pushing bills through to Third Reading, we came to the end of the Spring Session of the Alberta Legislature on May 14. 

This session was my first since being elected at the end of December 2024. My colleagues in the Alberta New Democrat caucus assure me that this was the spiciest and wildest one in their collective memories. While I don’t have the space here to review all 19 pieces of legislation passed in the last three months, I can hit some of the ones that will have the most effect on people in my riding. 

While the government struggled to pass each of these bills with as little debate as possible, they also had a lot of internal matters in their government. Two of the MLAs elected as UCP were pushed out of the caucus and now sit on the Opposition side of the House as Independent MLAs. Scott Sinclair, MLA Lesser Slave Lake, was pushed from government after questioning the budget and Peter Guthrie, MLA Airdrie-Cochrane, stepped down from his position as infrastructure minister and then was pushed from the caucus, after asking the Premier to address the Corrupt Care scandal in Alberta Health’s procurements. 

Now that they are not in the UCP caucus, the two have become loud critics of the premier and cabinet, especially in regard to ethics. Until the premier comes clean on it all, and fires the health minister, this will remain a story that continues to embarrass the UCP. You deserve an ethical and competent government but that is not what we have seen from the UCP lately. 

But palace intrigues aside, the UCP government passed a lot of troubling bills into law in the last few months. Albertans will soon see the effects of these new laws and need to be prepared. The Automobile Insurance Act (formerly Bill 47) introduces no-fault insurance that will limit your ability to sue a driver who hits and injures you (this comes into effect in Jan 2027). 

Another new law, the Public Safety Statutes Amendment Act (formerly Bill 49) will create an independent agency police service that would be offered to municipalities instead of the RCMP. This provincial police force would be in addition to the Alberta Sheriffs, who are peace officers not police officers. 

The millions of dollars this new service will cost will be shifted to the municipalities who opt for this over the RCMP. 

Two of the bills, Bills 54 and 55, generated the most email to my office, though, and were only introduced in the last two weeks of the session. These two bills were pushed through with the use of closure that meant we had only a few hours to debate the massive omnibus bills before they were passed in the late hours of the last day of the sitting. 

Bill 54 made changes to 10 pieces of legislation and includes changes to voter ID requirements and the re-introduction of corporate and union donations. It also slashed referendum thresholds, which is what led to discussions of a separation referendum that the premier seemed incapable of clearly taking a side on. 

For weeks, Premier Smith coddled separatist rhetoric around her while her government also pushed through the bill that lowered the threshold to have a referendum to just 10 per cent of voters in the last election. 

This meant that fewer than 200,000 people could force a separation referendum and wreak havoc on the province’s economy and reputation. Let me be very clear: I am and will remain a strong proponent of Alberta remaining in Canada and will work with every effort against anyone who tries to destroy this country. There is no good that will come from entertaining separation. It took the premier an awfully long time to find her way to the idea that she would vote against separation. Her waffling on the matter belies a profound lack of leadership from her and cabinet. Albertans deserve better than this from the Premier. 

Another bill that the UCP pushed through in the last moments of the last day in the Legislature was The Health Statutes Amendment Act (called Bill 55 before it was passed). This new law allows hospitals to be sold to private interests and permits private operators to charge patients fees for services. It is deeply concerning because it threatens to undermine the accessibility of healthcare for all Albertans at a time when we need better access, not less. 

Instead of these UCP actions toward privatizing healthcare, the NDP caucus called on government to prioritize public investment in healthcare and create a workforce plan that focuses on recruitment and retention for all health care professionals. There is a better way! 

This is just a small look at the many new laws that the UCP passed in the last few months. 

If you are worried about them, or any aspect of the provincial government, I welcome your emails to Lethbridge.west@assembly.ab.ca. If you prefer to call it is 403-329-4644. 

I hope to see you at some of the summer events coming up including the many Pride events throughout June!