First Nations leaders, scholar push back on Alberta’s planned vote on independence referendum – ‘Alberta can’t separate. They simply cannot. They do not have the authority,’ says Indigenous politics expert
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/sask-treaty-six-alberta-referendum-9.7209304
29 Comments
>Starblanket said the treaties are sacred covenants and Alberta doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally break them.
Cameron takes the same position, saying treaties were signed with the British Crown, not provincial governments.
“We never knew no provincial boundaries and many of us still don’t abide by those provincial boundaries,” Cameron told CBC on Friday.
Cameron said Indigenous rights and treaty rights are guaranteed.
“They trump provincial law, they trump federal law. Supreme Court case after Supreme Court case have always sided with us,” he said.
“We’re in 2026, but those are international, binding contracts that are still legal.”
Did Quebec have the authority? Or is that different? Funny how aggressively the media is preventing reasonable discourse on the topic. If only they reacted this way when public funds are wasted, stolen, and hidden with no consequences for elected officials and no accountability for taxpayers.
Didn’t Canada debate this with Quebec separation and say that while negotiations have to talk about it, it likely can’t stop a province from leaving entirely?
First time I’m thankful for these first nations rules. Now can we stop the stupidity in alberta?
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I certainly dont want alberta to separate from Canada. I believe we are strong as a nation together. I also think these types of arguments are silly. Many many nations seceeded from the British empire in a way that was ‘against the law’… there is actually a pretty big one just south of us.
easy solution to all of this alberta can leave as a governing body.. BC and Saskatchewan split the Treaty lands to Govern. problem solved.
my 2 cents
Also what cultural, ethnic or historical basis Alberta want indépendance? Gaz and oil?
Edit: Quebec I understand, Alberta? They just want to be infeodated to the US.
This seems almost dangerously naive.
It seems really weird for Indigenous leaders to talk about colonialism and its ripple effects as often as they do, only to have them blithely ignore the 165 nations that only exist today because they ignored the law as it sat and fought via multiple angles to get what they wanted, which was independence from a colonialist power.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Albertan Separatism isn’t the Boston Tea Party, or Ghandi, or the Mau Maus in Kenya, or the Algerian Revolution … but we DID just go through an election that 100% changed its tune and tone the minute the sitting US President decided that he wanted to annex us.
Unless we’re being intentionally naive, we have to realize that there are US based organizations that are pushing and driving the Albertan Separatism movement, and we have no idea how far they might go to get it. Can we truly say that they will respect our laws and our courts, and won’t resort to ‘sterner measures’?
I can’t.
Secession is done illegally more often than not. Just saying. Like who tf is going to enforce it lol
Don’t argue with me about Alberta separation. I’m not for it and my post isn’t in service of it.
Question: or what? Alberta seperates, stop paying the feds any taxes, tells the indigenous groups that they are now Albertans and if they don’t like it, leave. What are the consequences? War? Is Canada’s poorly equipped military going to invade Alberta and fight and kill them? If they did, that will just push Alberta to join the US and then Canada is fucked. I’m not a separatist at all, I just don’t see how Canada can stop them if they choose to leave.
Not that I am in favor of separation, but I find it interesting that FN are so adamant about staying with a country that they have spent the last decade or so describing as a “settler”, “colonial”, and “genocidal”.
A political process is different than a legal process. The US separating from Britain was illegal, yet here we are.
First Nations have political power and legal powers, but they don’t always match. The current BC situation is hurting their political power even if it is, as of right now, completely legal.
If Alberta wants to separate, it will be a political process first and a legal process second. I don’t see how Canada could refuse a vote that reaches 50%+1, even with the Clarity Act.
Self sovereignty is a farce, you always have someone to answer to.
We should probably all recognize what Indigenous peoples in Canada are doing for Canada these days
Who cares…must be Saturday cause the FN are complaining again…
none of you are correct. fn in alberta signed treaties with canada so, most of the land the fn owned before confederation of alberta the province would become fn land again legally.
Why cant they separate and let indigenous groups settle their own claims. Two different things isnt it
I don’t care much about this subject, but it is interesting how a small population seemingly has absolute veto power. Be it separation or major projects. Not very democratic.
this will be interesting
First Nations leaders are creating more separatists this way.
If Alberta separates they’re not going to give two shits about FN opinions.
lol like the separatists are going to listen to this guy or the courts. I am not in favour of separating but just saying.
I am thinking more and more that the leaders of this separatist movement are getting paid by someone who wants all this confusion. I dont know why or who will benefit. But they are using the populace and conning them into believing falsehood and lies. There is ZERO benefit financial or other for a province to separate. And this is gonna be a hard couple months.
Would be funny if the First Nations held a referendum to separate from Alberta.
This is all very silly and tiresome and embarrassing. No province can leave. No province will leave. How many more news articles do we need about this nonsense?
Oh yes. Alberta forgot that nothing can be accomplished in Canada without total approval from the indigenous.
Just a reminder that a batshit crazy Queen of Canada with a couple of followers was able to take over a town and she is still free. This is in case you expect Canada enforcing anything should the separatists become serious
Yeah I always thought that was dumb, why would Alberta care about Canadian laws if they are no longer going to be part of Canada? Seems like as soon as they separate Canadian law would no longer apply right? Like if hypothetically, if 100% of Albertans just stood up and said nope, we are our own things now, do the feds like send in the army to stop them?