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Premier Danielle Smith has asked for nothing outrageous or unconstitutional in demanding from Ottawa a provincial place at the table in selecting federal judges in Alberta.

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I was going to say Smith “requested” of Prime Minister Mark Carney that Alberta be given meaningful consultation in the appointment of judges to the province’s two federal courts — the Court of King’s Bench and the Alberta Court of Appeal. But Smith then added that if Alberta didn’t get the access it wanted, she would withhold funding for judicial assistants, legal counsel, sheriffs and court clerks for new appointees. That makes it a demand.

But it’s not an unreasonable demand. Ottawa appoints and pays the judges themselves, while nearly all the other costs of the federal justice system in Alberta are borne by the province, including office furniture and computers.

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