Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation has asked a court to block a proposed referendum on whether Alberta should secede from Canada, arguing that the separatist push violates treaty rights. In a legal filing, the First Nation described the campaign as “consummately irresponsible and dishonourable” and said it should be shut down.
The hearing began on Tuesday and is expected to last three days. The push has been driven by a minority of Alberta residents who argue that the oil-rich province is disadvantaged by federal payment structures and unable to get its fossil fuel reserves to market. Separatists have collected nearly 180,000 signatures to request a referendum.
Last year, Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith, reduced the number of signatures required for a citizen-initiated constitutional referendum from 588,000 to roughly 178,000. The provincial government also changed how such referendums work, removing powers from Alberta’s chief electoral officer and allowing questions that would conflict with the Canadian constitution.
The group behind the effort, Stay Free Alberta, says it has secured the required signatures a month before the cutoff date. Its proposed question asks: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be part of Canada and become an independent state?” The question would be added to a planned referendum in October alongside others on immigration, healthcare and the constitution.
Sturgeon Lake, one of 39 nations that signed Treaty No. 8 in 1899, argues that Alberta, the federal government and the chief electoral officer have failed to uphold the agreement. “Alberta has no right to secede from Canada and no right to take Treaty No. 8 territory,” the First Nation said in its filing. It also warned that a vote to leave would enable foreign interference from “the most powerful nation to the south”. The judge is expected to rule on 2 May, which is the deadline for signature collection.
