Alberta Flashcards

The National Energy Program (NEP), introduced by the federal government in 1980, caused profound political tension with Alberta. What was the primary grievance Alberta had with the NEP?

Answer: It allowed Ottawa to capture a larger share of Alberta's oil revenues and set made-in-Canada oil prices below world market rates

The NEP redirected a much larger portion of oil revenues to the federal government and kept domestic oil prices artificially below world prices, costing Alberta billions. Albertans viewed this as Ottawa exploiting their resources, which fuelled lasting western alienation and the phrase 'Let the Eastern bastards freeze in the dark.'

Section 92A was added to the Constitution Act, 1982, partly in response to Alberta's confrontations with Ottawa over energy policy. What power does Section 92A specifically grant to provinces?

Answer: Concurrent legislative authority over non-renewable natural resources, forestry, and electrical energy, including the power to levy indirect taxes on them

Section 92A gave provinces concurrent (shared with Parliament) legislative power over non-renewable natural resources, forestry resources, and electrical energy, and crucially extended provincial taxing power to include indirect taxation of those resources — something provinces had previously lacked under the original Constitution Act, 1867.

Premier Peter Lougheed established the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund in 1976. What was the original legislated percentage of non-renewable resource revenues directed into the Fund annually?

Answer: 30%

The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund Act originally directed 30% of non-renewable resource revenues into the fund each year. The percentage was later reduced to 15% in 1982 and eventually to zero as Alberta began running deficits. The fund was designed to transform finite resource wealth into lasting financial assets for future generations.

Alberta is the only Canadian province that levies no provincial sales tax (PST). Which constitutional provision gives provinces the authority to impose sales taxes in the first place, and why has Alberta historically resisted doing so?

Answer: Section 92(2) of the Constitution Act, 1867; Alberta has historically relied on resource royalties as a substitute revenue stream and views a PST as unnecessary fiscal drag

Section 92(2) grants provinces the power of 'Direct Taxation within the Province.' A retail sales tax qualifies as direct taxation. Alberta's tradition of no PST stems from decades of abundant royalty revenues that made the tax politically unnecessary; it has become a point of provincial identity, not a constitutional prohibition.

Both Alberta and Saskatchewan entered Confederation on the same date. On what date did this occur, and what was the primary reason the federal government chose to create two separate provinces rather than one large 'Buffalo' province as some settlers had requested?

Answer: September 1, 1905; Ottawa feared a single large province would have too much political power and influence in Parliament, upsetting the federal balance

Alberta and Saskatchewan both became provinces on September 1, 1905. Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier's government resisted the 'Buffalo' single-province proposal largely because a unified prairie province with its enormous land mass and growing population would have wielded disproportionate power in the Senate and House of Commons, threatening central Canadian political dominance.

Alberta contains the only legislated Métis Settlements in Canada. Which of the following statements about these settlements is accurate?

Answer: There are 8 Métis Settlements, established under provincial legislation in 1990, granting communal title to the land that cannot be surrendered to the Crown

Alberta's 8 Métis Settlements were formalized under the Métis Settlements Act (1990), which granted communal title to roughly 1.25 million acres of land. Crucially, this title cannot be surrendered to the Crown — a unique legal protection. No other province has equivalent legislated Métis land settlements, making Alberta's arrangement singular in Canadian constitutional history.