Edmonton (Rajeev Sharma): Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has pushed back against mounting criticism over her recent remarks on judicial reform, saying her warning about withholding court funding was intended as a bargaining strategy rather than an attack on judicial independence.
Speaking during her weekend call-in radio program, Smith said her government’s objective is to open dialogue with Ottawa and arrive at an arrangement that she believes would be balanced and respectful to the province. She argued that Alberta is seeking an equal voice in the process of appointing judges, not a confrontation with the federal government.
Smith’s comments follow a letter she sent to Prime Minister Mark Carney last week, in which she urged the federal government to grant Alberta a stronger role in selecting judges for the province’s superior courts and for the Supreme Court of Canada. In the same letter, she indicated that Alberta could reconsider certain funding contributions to the courts if her proposal was not taken seriously.
According to the premier, the current advisory committee structure gives Ottawa a disproportionate influence. Alberta presently has one representative on the federal judicial advisory committee for its superior courts, compared to three federal appointees. Smith has proposed replacing this with a four-member panel that would include equal representation from both levels of government, with appointments requiring approval from provincial and federal ministers.
Smith maintains that such changes would better reflect Alberta’s legal traditions and help restore public trust in the justice system. She has also renewed her call for changes to the bilingualism requirement for Supreme Court judges, arguing that it disadvantages candidates from Western Canada.
The proposals have drawn sharp reactions from legal organizations. Several groups representing lawyers and judges have warned that the premier’s approach risks politicizing the judiciary and undermining its independence. The Canadian Bar Association has expressed concern that Smith’s language suggests judicial appointments should be shaped by political or regional expectations rather than merit and independence.
Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser has defended the existing appointment framework, stating that it is designed to remain independent from political pressure and that Ottawa has no plans to overhaul the current system.
During the radio show, host Wayne Nelson noted that while some Albertans support reforming the judicial appointment process, many feel the premier’s tactics could damage public confidence. Critics, he added, have even drawn parallels between Smith’s approach and populist tactics used by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Smith did not directly respond to those comparisons, instead framing her position as a push for fairness within Confederation. She said Alberta is seeking the same level of consideration that Quebec receives within Canada’s judicial structure. By law, three of the nine seats on the Supreme Court are reserved for judges from Quebec, while the remaining positions are traditionally distributed among other regions.
In a statement issued later Saturday, Smith’s press secretary Sam Blackett rejected comparisons to Trump as unfounded, saying they distract from what he described as a legitimate provincial concern. He reiterated that the premier believes provinces should have meaningful input into judicial appointments, similar to Quebec’s role, to strengthen confidence in the justice system and national unity.
Smith also reiterated her criticism of the Supreme Court’s bilingualism rule, in place since 2016, which requires judges to have a working knowledge of both official languages. She has argued that the policy limits opportunities for otherwise qualified judges from Western Canada and fails to reflect Canada’s broader linguistic diversity.
Francophone legal groups in Alberta, however, have defended the requirement, saying it is essential to protecting language rights and ensuring access to justice for French-speaking Canadians.
