An Alberta judge has thrown out a petition seeking for the province to separate from Canada, after indigenous First Nations groups argued that an independent Alberta without their consultation would infringe on their treaty rights.
The 37-page ruling was delivered on Wednesday in an Edmonton court by Justice Shaina Leonard.
It comes after Stay Free Alberta, the group behind a citizen-led petition on Alberta independence, said it had gathered more than 300,000 signatures – enough to trigger a province-wide referendum.
Justice Leonard paused verification of those signatures pending her decision on the First Nations legal challenge.
In the ruling, the judge wrote, “As a matter of logic and common sense, there can be no doubt that Alberta’s secession from Canada will have an impact” on two treaties signed in the 19th Century with First Nations peoples and the Crown.
Despite the clear impact separation would have, “no consultation occurred”, Leonard wrote. “Alberta breached its duty to consult with the applicants.”
Jeff Rath, a lawyer representing Stay Free Alberta, said in a statement: “We disagree fundamentally with the decision which appears on its face to violate principles of natural justice and contain numerous errors of law.”
He told the BBC that his group would seek to appeal, and is also considering asking the courts to place a stay on Justice Leonard’s order.
A lawyer for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation praised the judge’s ruling as “a significant victory for the rule of law and the protection of constitutional rights in Alberta”.
“Justice Leonard’s decision today makes it clear that it was unlawful to turn away from the findings about the impacts on First Nations and to not consult with them before taking this perilous step of holding a referendum,” said Kevin Hille.
‘We have more in common with America than the rest of Canada’
Speaking to the BBC, Hille added that the order “made it clear that there needs to be consultation and engagement before something as momentous and perilous as an independence referendum”.
“An international border would destroy their way of life,” he said, adding: “There’s no way they’d be able to live the way of life that they’ve lived for the last 7,000 years.”
In Canadian law, there is a duty to consult with indigenous peoples when the government is considering actions that could infringe on their aboriginal or treaty rights. Laws also require that the consultation be meaningful and done in good-faith.
On Wednesday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told reporters that her government was reviewing the decision.
“We think there has been an error in law and we will be appealing it,” she said, adding that she plans to discuss the ruling with her cabinet and caucus.
The Alberta government recently amended its laws to remove a requirement for citizen-initiated referendums to be constitutional.
“We have to allow for citizens to be able to express their opinions on any issue,” she continued.
The future of the referendum on independence in Alberta is now up in the air.
Rath, the lawyer representing Stay Free Alberta, said that the people who signed the petition will “be demanding that [Smith] put the question on the ballot” in October, when the province has already scheduled a vote on a series of questions around immigration and matters related to provincial powers.
“I think at the end of the day this will literally become an existential question for Premier Smith and her premiership,” he told BBC News.
Anger with Ottawa has been longstanding in the western province, in particular over development of its natural resources, with some Albertans believing that federal government, especially under the Liberals, has stood in the way of the province’s oil and gas industry in favour of pro-climate legislation.
There is a belief that the province, with its natural resource wealth, also contributes more to the country than it receives, and that the rest of the country often ignores western provinces or don’t have their best interest in mind.
Cultural and political differences have further fuelled the divide.
Now, once previously on the political fringes, the possibility of a unity crisis has become increasingly likely in the last year.
While the separatist movement in Alberta doesn’t have one unified view, most want to see, at a minimum, more autonomy over the province’s resource wealth and political priorities.
