First Nation goes to court to kill Alberta independence petition
The Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation is seeking an emergency injunction with the Court of King's Bench to halt the referendum campaign.
Author: Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
An Alberta First Nation is in an Edmonton courtroom today arguing for a judge to shut down a massive citizen petition on Alberta independence.
The Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation is seeking an emergency injunction with the Court of King’s Bench to halt the campaign, claiming the push for separation is allegedly an “unconstitutional” threat to Treaty rights. Lawyer Orlagh O’Kelley will represent the nation.
The case comes as organizers for the referendum say they have already gathered more than the 178,000 signatures needed to force a province-wide vote this fall, potentially.
The legal challenge focuses on whether the courts can stop a petition, a tool used by citizens to express their democratic will to their government, before a vote even happens.
Lawyers for the independence movement argue the petition is a fundamental exercise of free speech. They maintain that citizens have a right to organize and express their views under the Citizen Initiative Act, a law designed to make it easier for people to participate in democracy.
Alberta lawyer Eva Chipiuk laid out the pro-independence arguments she will be making in the court, saying that the matter was “non-justiciable, premature and fundamentally political.”
“At this stage of the process, a private Albertan has collected signatures from fellow citizens and has already communicated that outcome to elected representatives. Did anything life-shattering or legally consequential occur? No,” Chipiuk said.
“So we already know the answer to this week of court challenges: nothing changes legally, because nothing has happened beyond citizens communicating with each other and with their elected officials.”
Lawyer and Alberta independence activist Jeffrey Rath is also set to appear in court to argue against the injunction. Arguments will be heard from April 7 to April 10.
Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation argues that Albertans don’t have the right to even ask the question. Because Treaties 6, 7, and 8 were signed with the British Crown long before Alberta became a province in 1905, lawyers representing the group say the province cannot legally leave Canada without their full consent.
The First Nation is also challenging Bill 14, a law passed late last year that lowered the number of signatures needed for such a petition.
Maybe time to cut the all first nations across the country off from funding. Time for them to start working for the money and contribute to the society and the country.
Albertans should decide on their future. The way Canada is being governed gives them every reason to leave . Canada is no longer a free country and now Carney wants to take us into the European Union. If that happens we are finished as a country and the 51st state will look more like salvation than an thing to avoid.