Premier Danielle Smith has announced that she will be chairing the new Alberta Next Panel, a panel bringing together leaders, experts and community voices to “assert its place in Confederation.”
The panel will work across the province over the summer and early fall to ensure that those who live in the province are those who get to have their voices heard. The focus of the group is on empowering the province and making it stronger and more sovereign within Canada. It will also provide referendum question recommendations.
The province’s news release states some of the key focuses that the panel wishes to pursue. Those include consulting Albertans about removing themselves from the Canadian Pension Plan and installing a new Alberta Pension Plan, (which Albertans have already voted in opposition to,) ditching the RCMP for an Alberta Provincial Police Service, whether Alberta should pursue constitutional changes and immigration reform to allow the provincial government to have more oversight.
“This isn’t just about talk. It’s about action. The Alberta Next Panel is giving everyday Albertans a direct say in the direction of our province,” said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. “It’s time to stand up to Ottawa’s overreach and make sure decisions about Alberta’s future are made here, by the people who live and work here.”
The panel will include 14 members total, including Premier Smith, from inside and outside of the government.
This includes Ministers, Members of the Legislative Assembly, health experts, CEO’s and a former justice.
