Treaty 6 group says it will intervene in courts after judge OKs Alberta separation question review

Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations is applying for intervenor status in an upcoming judicial review of a referendum question on Alberta separation.

A group of Alberta First Nations says it will file an official application to “intervene in the courts” after an Edmonton judge said Thursday a judicial review and full hearing on the constitutionality of a proposed Alberta separation referendum question will go ahead.

On Friday, the Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 First Nations said in a statement that the push for separation is “unconstitutional” and “a direct violation of Treaty, which are sacred and legally binding commitments.”

“We will continue to fight and oppose the reckless political posturing of this Alberta government and the so-called Alberta Prosperity Project, who are in fact engaged in playing political games that endanger the future of all Albertans.”

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Alberta’s chief electoral officer, Gordon McClure, referred the question to court last month so a judge could determine whether it violates the Constitution, including treaty rights.

The proposed question: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province in Canada?”

The group that submitted the question, the Alberta Prosperity Project, applied last week to have the referral quashed.

The Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations, which includes 16 member tribes in the province, is the political voice for the protection of rights set out by the treaty, which was signed in 1876 and includes 50 First Nations in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Lawyers for Justice Minister Mickey Amery and the chief electoral officer didn’t take a position on the application to quash the referral. However, the minister and Premier Danielle Smith have criticized McClure, saying they think the question is constitutional and should have been approved.

The judge scheduled three days for a hearing in November.

If the proposed question is approved, the Alberta Prosperity Project and its chief executive officer, Mitch Sylvestre, would need to collect 177,000 signatures in four months to get it on a ballot.

A competing proposal was approved by McClure in June and asks if Alberta should declare an official policy that it will never separate from Canada.

Efforts to gather signatures for that proposal, put forward by former Progressive Conservative deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk, got underway earlier this month.

Lukaszuk, who is also seeking to intervene in the review, needs to collect nearly 300,000 signatures in 90 days in order to get his question on a ballot. His application was approved before new provincial rules with lower signature thresholds took effect.

With files from The Canadian Press