Alberta wants to use critical infrastructure defence law to block emissions data from Ottawa [Video]

The Alberta government says it will propose amendments to the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act that it says would act as a repellent against “unconstitutional federal overreach,” but it remains unclear how enforcement of those measures would play out in practice. 

Alberta’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act was first introduced in 2020 as a response to rail blockade protesters, aiming to protect essential “infrastructure,” such as pipelines, highways and railways, making it illegal to block, damage or interfere with those sites. 

The law has long been controversial amongst civil rights advocates and legal experts. The Alberta Union of Public Employees launched a constitutional challenge of the bill, though the Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed the claim in December 2021. 

Now, the Alberta government wants to clarify the act to:

• Explicitly state that it applies to the government of Canada.
• Update the definition of “essential infrastructure” to add facilities where oil and gas production and emissions data and records are held.

Speaking to reporters …