With Sovereignty Act, Danielle Smith serves as judge, jury and power company executive

There. Boom. After repeatedly warning she would, the premier has wielded the Sovereignty Act, designed to keep Ottawa from encroaching on the province’s right to produce its oil and gas resources, or in the case of the electricity sector, burning them to keep the lights on.

The Alberta premier who demands Ottawa stay in its legislative lane is playing the role of a court justice.

It’s typically a judge’s role to reach an opinion about whether a federal measure is or isn’t unconstitutional — and sure, a politician is free to rhetorically insist that is so before any court rules.