A court proceeding on a proposed Alberta separatism referendum question is underway, with a judge hearing arguments to quash the review.
Alberta’s chief electoral officer, Gordon McClure, referred the proposed question to the Edmonton court last week, asking a judge to determine whether it violates the Constitution, including treaty rights.
The question asks Albertans: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province in Canada?”
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Court of King’s Bench Justice Colin Feasby is first hearing an application from the Alberta Prosperity Project, the group that proposed the question, for the court to strike the referral.
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A lawyer for the group, Jeffrey Rath, argues that judicial scrutiny is premature, as there’s no guarantee it will get enough signatures to put the question on a ballot or that a referendum would even pass.
The judge says he likely won’t make a decision on the application today.
Rath also argues that the act of asking a question doesn’t violate the Constitution, which would only come into play if the referendum passed and negotiations began on Alberta separating from Canada.
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A lawyer for McClure said the chief electoral officer wasn’t taking a position on the application.
Premier Danielle Smith and Justice Minister Mickey Amery have criticized the referral to the court, saying the question should be approved and only face a judicial review if it receives a majority vote.
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Multiple groups, including the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in northern Alberta, have said they’re hoping to make submissions in opposition to the proposed question.
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A letter sent this week to the judge by a government lawyer says Amery intends to make submissions as well. It repeats that Amery believes the question should be approved.
“The minister’s position is that the proposal is not unconstitutional, and therefore should be approved and permitted to proceed,” the letter reads.
“It is settled law that the government of any province of Canada is entitled to consult its population by referendum on any issue, and that the result on a referendum on the secession of a province, if sufficiently clear, is to be taken as an expression of democratic will.”
If the question is approved, the Alberta Prosperity Project would need to collect 177,000 signatures in four months to get it put on a ballot.
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A competing referendum question was approved by McClure in June and asks if Alberta should declare an official policy that it will never separate from Canada.
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Efforts to gather signatures for that proposal, put forward by former Progressive Conservative deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk, started last week. He is also looking to make submissions against the competing question.
Outside court Thursday, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam signed Lukaszuk’s petition.
It needs 300,000 signatures in 90 days in order to get on a ballot, as it was approved before new provincial rules with lower signature thresholds took effect.
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