{"id":588630,"date":"2026-04-07T19:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/588630\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T19:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:25:08","slug":"first-nation-asks-court-to-block-alberta-referendum-on-seceding-from-canada-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/588630\/","title":{"rendered":"First Nation asks court to block Alberta referendum on seceding from Canada | Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

A First Nation in Alberta has said that a separatist push for the province to secede from Canada is \u201cconsummately irresponsible and dishonourable\u201d<\/a> and should be shut down, arguing in court that a proposed referendum would violate their treaty rights.<\/p>\n

A minority of residents of the oil-rich province have long argued that the province\u2019s woes are due to the structure of payments to the federal government and a perceived inability to get their vast fossil fuel reserves to market.<\/p>\n

In recent months, separatists have seized on the sentiment <\/a>and collected nearly 180,000 signatures to request a referendum. But the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, near Edmonton, has asked a court to halt the campaign.<\/p>\n

The hearing, which began on Tuesday, is expected to last three days.<\/p>\n

Last year, Alberta\u2019s premier, Danielle Smith, reduced the number of signatures required for citizens bring a constitutional referendum, dropping it from 588,000 to roughly 178,000. The provincial government also changed how citizen-initiated referendums worked, removing powers from Alberta\u2019s chief electoral officer. Now, referendums can pose questions that would run afoul of the Canadian constitution.<\/p>\n

The group behind the push to secede, Stay Free Alberta, says it has received the required number of signatures, a month before the cutoff date.<\/p>\n

They hope their question \u2013 \u201cDo you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be part of Canada<\/a> and become an independent state?\u201d \u2013 will be added to a planned referendum in October, which will also include questions on immigration, healthcare and the country\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n

Sturgeon Lake, one of 39 nations which signed a key treaty with Canada in 1899, argues that the province of Alberta, the federal government and the province\u2019s chief electoral officer have failed to uphold key provisions of that agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlberta has treated [Sturgeon Lake Cree First Nation] as though they are chattel on the land, merely an afterthought in forced negotiations, not the first step in any potential secession,\u201d the First Nation said in its court filing. \u201cAlberta has no right to secede from Canada and no right to take Treaty No. 8 territory.\u201d<\/p>\n

The First Nation is asking a court to reinstate the rule that a citizen-initiative petition must follow the constitution \u2013 and to halt the current drive for signatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2026, Alberta\u2019s actions are not only illegal, but they are also consummately irresponsible and dishonourable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The First Nation has also warned the current push has invited the threat of influence of foreign actors and a vote to leave Canada \u201cwill enable foreign interference from the most powerful nation to the south\u201d.<\/p>\n

Late last year, separatist activists<\/a> held covert meetings with and members of Donald Trump\u2019s administration \u2013 a move one provincial premier called \u201ctreason\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The judge overseeing the case is expected to deliver a ruling on 2 May \u2013 the deadline for signature collection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A First Nation in Alberta has said that a separatist push for the province to secede from Canada…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-588630","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}