new session begins Alberta legislature to resume with throne speech, tabling of blockade bill Feb 25, 2020 2:18 AM

EDMONTON — Alberta politicians are returning to the legislature with a promise of new legislation targeting protesters who set up blockades.

Premier Jason Kenney says he plans to table a bill today that would create stiffer penalties for “anyone who riots on or who seeks to impair critical economic infrastructure, including railways.”

The United Conservative leader has been critical of protesters who have set up blockades on rail lines in support of the hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, who oppose a natural gas pipeline project on their land in British Columbia.

Supporters of the Wet’suwet’en set up a blockade on a CN rail line on the edge of Edmonton last week.