{"id":452836,"date":"2026-02-04T07:33:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T07:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/452836\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T07:33:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T07:33:12","slug":"danielle-smith-says-alberta-will-withhold-funding-for-judges-without-more-input-on-selection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/452836\/","title":{"rendered":"Danielle Smith says Alberta will withhold funding for judges without more input on selection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Premier Danielle Smith says her government will withhold funding to support new judicial appointments in Alberta if the federal government doesn\u2019t give the province a say on who is picked.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/70c8fc80.png\" alt=\"\" style=\"position:absolute;width:1px;height:1px\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"\/><\/p>\n<p>In a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney made public Tuesday, Smith says the appointment process for judges needs reform.<\/p>\n<p>Her letter comes a week after <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11640013\/alberta-judges-danielle-smith\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Alberta\u2019s judges called on Smith to respect each other\u2019s role and independence<\/a>, after the premier said on her weekly radio show she wishes she could \u201cdirect\u201d them.<\/p>\n<p>Smith told Carney she wants the province to be consulted on future appointments to Alberta\u2019s Court of King\u2019s Bench, the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.<\/p>\n<p>Smith proposes a committee that includes Alberta appointees to help assess and recommend King\u2019s Bench and Court of Appeal candidates to justice ministers and recommend candidates for the Supreme Court of Canada to be agreed on by ministers and submitted to the prime minister.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Smith says the collaboration would help ensure the appointments \u201cappropriately reflect Alberta\u2019s distinct legal traditions,\u201d and strengthen public confidence in the administration of justice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlberta\u2019s government will not agree to provide the necessary funding to support any new judicial positions in the province until such engagement and collaboration are provided,\u201d Smith wrote in the letter, dated Jan. 23.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProviding Alberta with a formal and meaningful role in the appointment process would strengthen public confidence in the administration of justice, promote national unity within Alberta and help ensure judicial decision-making reflects the values and expectations of Albertans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"170\" height=\"225\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767930311_275_national.jpg\" alt=\"Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tGet daily National news<\/p>\n<p>Get the day&#8217;s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.<\/p>\n<p>She also calls on Carney to relax bilingualism requirements for federal appointees, saying imposing bilingualism on Supreme Court of Canada judges further entrenches both barriers and Western alienation.<\/p>\n<p>She points to the United States and Australia, where states can appoint state-level superior court judges, saying a discussion on reform is long overdue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn this respect, Canada remains an outlier, and a discussion on reform is long overdue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shawn King, president of the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association, which speaks for defence lawyers across the province, said if Smith follows through on her ultimatum to withhold funding from courts, the already-stressed justice system will \u201cimplode.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-blockquote__content l-article__blockquoteContent\">\u201cAt least in criminal cases, it means that matters are going to be stayed hand over fist, and who\u2019s going to be blamed for that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>King said courts will see more Jordan applications, which are legal motions to dismiss criminal charges due to unreasonable trial delays.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is potentially catastrophic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He added it\u2019s currently not unusual to see matters adjourned or rescheduled due to a shortage of judges.<\/p>\n<p>Opposition NDP justice critic Irfan Sabir said in a statement Alberta\u2019s courts are already underfunded by Smith\u2019s United Conservative government, which has been leading to delays.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore on Politics<br \/>\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYet, she\u2019s threatening further cuts to the administration of justice,\u201d he said, adding that it appears Smith has no problem \u201cdemonizing\u201d French Canadians.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\tTrending Now\n\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11650493\/savannah-guthrie-mother-nancy-abducted-home-today-host\/\" class=\"c-posts__inner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-posts__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770190391_19_savannah-guthrie-nancy-guthrie-missing.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"336\" height=\"224\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Today\u2019 host Savannah Guthrie\u2019s mother abducted from home, police believe\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11650339\/kid-rock-headline-turning-point-usa-super-bowl-halftime-show\/\" class=\"c-posts__inner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-posts__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770190392_602_CP175383927.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"336\" height=\"224\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\tKid Rock to headline \u2018All-American\u2019 alternative Super Bowl halftime show\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>By law, three of nine seats on the Supreme Court are to be appointed from Quebec. An independent advisory board of eight, including two members appointed by Quebec, makes recommendations for those appointments to the prime minister.<\/p>\n<p>By tradition, three judges are appointed from Ontario, two from the Western provinces or Northern Canada, and one from the Atlantic provinces, also following recommendations from an advisory board.<\/p>\n<p>Lola Dandybaeva, spokesperson for federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser, said in a statement democratic institutions depend on a strong and independent judiciary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe independent judicial advisory committees protect that independence by keeping judicial appointments at arm\u2019s length from political influence,\u201d said Dandybaeva.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-blockquote__content l-article__blockquoteContent\">\u201cCanada values engagement with Alberta and will continue to work constructively within our constitutional framework.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith\u2019s letter comes after Alberta\u2019s three chief justices, in a rare public statement last week, urged respect for the independence of the judicial branch, saying democracy only functions when all three branches of government operate independently.<\/p>\n<p>Smith has recently said she wished she could \u201cdirect\u201d judges in regards to bail rules and decisions. In recent months, the premier has repeatedly criticized what she calls \u201cactivist\u201d courts and \u201cunelected\u201d judges.<\/p>\n<p>Smith has said she believes in parliamentary supremacy, and in the fall sitting of the legislature, invoked the Charter\u2019s notwithstanding clause four times to shield her government\u2019s laws from court challenges.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Health Matters: Alberta government invokes notwithstanding clause for 4th time'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/hm_dec_10.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"   data-\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:29<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHealth Matters: Alberta government invokes notwithstanding clause for 4th time\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t&amp;copy 2026 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Premier Danielle Smith says her government will withhold funding to support new judicial appointments in Alberta if the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[72183,7611,186160,43,44,714,41,39,42,40,186161],"class_list":["post-452836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-alberta-justice","tag-alberta-legislature","tag-court-of-kings-bench","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-western-alienation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}