This article originally appeared in the National Post. Below is an excerpt from the article.
By Ted Morton, April 29, 2026
As Albertans prepare to vote in their October referendum, it is important that they know and understand what has happened to the constitutional legacy of former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed. During the 1980-81 drafting of the Charter of Rights and the Constitution Act 1982, Lougheed and the other Western premiers negotiated and won four important concessions from the Trudeau Liberals. But now, four decades later, these hard-fought constitutional rights and powers have been reversed by the Supreme Court of Canada, Liberal federal governments, or the two working together. These constitutional losses represent a clear and present danger to Albertans’ future. Harmful federal policies can be repealed by a new federal government. Constitutional losses are permanent, unless challenged.
The addition of Section 92A to the constitution was Lougheed’s most important achievement. Section 92A explicitly affirms each province’s “exclusive jurisdiction” over the “exploration,” “development, conservation and management of non-renewable natural resources.” Its purpose was to ensure that Alberta would never again see a federal government implement anything like then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s disastrous National Energy Program (NEP). During negotiations to patriate and amend Canada’s constitution, Section 92A became a non-negotiable demand of Lougheed and the other western premiers. Without it, Trudeau would never have received their consent to the 1982 Constitution Act and the new Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
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F.L. (Ted) Morton is an Executive Fellow at the School of Public Policy and professor emeritus at the University of Calgary. His book, The Charter Revolution and the Court Party, won a Donner Foundation book prize in 2002.
