Alberta Fights for Equality with the Other Provinces

For the first 25 years of Alberta's existence, the provincial government tried to convince Ottawa to give it resource ownership. In 1927, agreement was reached in principle and three years later the Constitution was amended to incorporate the terms of the Natural Resources Transfer Act, 1930. A comparison of the Transfer Act with Section 109 of the Constitution Act, 1867, quickly reveals that its provisions are far more detailed and comprehensive. The preamble to the 1930 Act contains the following statement:

And whereas it is desirable that Alberta should be placed in a position of equality with the other provinces of Confederation with respect to the administration and control of its natural resources as from its entrance into Confederation in 1905.

--J. Peter Meekison, "Alberta and the Constitution," in Government and Politics in Alberta, ed. Allan Tupper and Roger Gibbins (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1992), 247.