Canadian politics is often narrated through the lens of “exceptionalism,” portrayed as insulated from populist disruptions that have unsettled other democracies. Yet under the pretense of restoring sovereignty to the “people,” populism has become a tool for challenging constitutional authority in Canada, mobilized to erode checks on executive and legislative power. This article examines the Alberta government’s Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, passed in late 2022 by the United Conservative Party (UCP). The act authorizes the provincial legislature to direct institutions to defy federal laws deemed “unconstitutional” or “harmful.” The authors ask, What context and which actors sustained the UCP government’s use of populist frames in passing this legislation? Using historical and contemporary qualitative evidence, they show that separatist and “freedom” organizations provided critical resources and political opportunities for the UCP’s policy program. The authors trace how three groups—the Free Alberta Strategy, Take Back Alberta, and the Alberta Prosperity Project—mobilized, brokered influence, and secured ideological patronage in shaping the act’s framing. By highlighting the interplay between social movements and parties, they argue that populist constitutionalism in Canada is neither anomalous nor incidental but deeply contingent on movement–party linkages. These findings complicate the narrative of Canadian exceptionalism, suggesting that Canada’s democratic institutions are vulnerable to the same populist currents reshaping politics globally, albeit in forms mediated by distinct regional political cultures.
Laxer et al. (Sun,) studied this question.