The Alberta separatism question will return to court

Several members of Alberta’s First Nations are expected to challenge a proposed referendum calling for the province’s independence in court.

They want Alberta’s separatist petition declared null and void and the process deemed unconstitutional.

“This is an unconstitutional question that will impact our Treaty relationships, so we have to take a stand,” said Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation Chief Sheldon Sunshine.

Sturgeon Lake, located in Treaty 8 territory, is scheduled for trial on Tuesday.

The Indigenous community in the Grande Prairie region is one of several First Nations challenging a provincial law allowing citizen-led petitions to request a referendum vote, as is the ongoing campaign to put desegregation on the ballot.

Indigenous leaders have vocally opposed the separatist movement in Alberta, arguing that the province has no jurisdiction over their lands.

Treaties 6, 7 and 8, all signed with the Crown between 1875 and 1899, predate the existence of Alberta, which joined Confederation in 1905.

In December, judges ruled the proposed separation unconstitutional.

This comes after chief electoral officer Gordon McClure referred a referendum on Alberta becoming a “sovereign state” proposed by the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) to the Lords Court last summer, to determine whether it was constitutional.

In December, Justice Secretary Mickey Amery introduced Bill 14, which would give him the authority to approve or reject referendum petitions, not the chief election officer.

Less than a day later, Justice Colin Feasby of the Court of King’s Bench ruled that Alberta’s independence referendum was an unconstitutional violation of Treaty rights.

But with the enactment of Bill 14, McClure approved a petition from a new organization with the same leadership as APP, Stay Free Alberta, with a slightly modified question that referred to Alberta becoming an “independent state” – effectively ending the court’s review.

The group pushing for the referendum said last week that they had collected about 178,000 signatures needed to trigger a vote.

Stay Free Alberta says these people have a right to be heard and changes occurring in the province mean there can be no legal action at this time.

“The idea that they need to be consulted before citizens can communicate their views to the legislature is frankly ridiculous,” said Jeffrey Rath, the organization’s attorney.

“This is purely a political issue.”

Speaking to reporters last week, Justice Minister Mickey Amery said his government would review any results.

Premier Danielle Smith said she would move forward with a province-wide referendum if the required number of signatures had been gathered and verified.

The NDP has accused his government of procedurally delaying progress on a “Forever Canadian” petition organized by former deputy prime minister Thomas Lukaszuk to make Alberta’s official policy of remaining in Canada.

The petition collected more than 456,000 signatures by October 2025, far exceeding the 294,000 signatures required under previous regulations as amended by the UCP.

The Forever Canadian petition was verified successful by Elections Alberta in early December.

Opposition leader Naheed Nenshi also criticized Smith for reducing the signature threshold to make it easier to put the secession question on the referendum vote.

“This is not democracy. This is a power grab by the prime minister,” he said last week.

Smith said last Tuesday questions needed to be answered about whether Lukaszuk’s petition would trigger a province-wide referendum or trigger a vote by MPs in the House of Representatives.

Lukaszuk said in an interview with The Canadian Press last week that he was concerned Smith would let separatist questions get ahead of his own.

“He has driven the Zamboni, paving the way for them to force him to hold a referendum.”

He said he presented his petition as a policy proposal because he wanted it to be resolved in the legislature through a vote, but the prime minister could put the question to a referendum if he wanted.

Lukaszuk said his group is preparing for a referendum if it is held. “I can’t sit on my hands.”

A legislative committee led by UCP MLAs will meet April 21 to begin work on the Forever Canadian petition.

NDP deputy leader Rakhi Pancholi has noted that if the committee does not report to the legislature by the time it takes office in mid-May, then the petition will not be tabled until after a referendum on immigration and the constitutional question planned for late October that could also include the secession question.

For more on this story, watch the video above.

— With files from Lisa Johnson and Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press

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