Treaty chiefs representing First Nations across the West say they are willing to carry out acts of civil disobedience if necessary to fight Premier Danielle Smith’s Alberta separatism vote.
And Treaty 8 Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi on Thursday renewed a call for Smith to put a stop to the upcoming referendum.
He pointed to a recent court decision that stalled a separation petition drive on the grounds Smith’s government did not fulfil its constitutional duty to consult First Nations.
“If they’re ignoring courts, ignoring the rulings, it shows to me that they are lawless,” Mercredi said of the United Conservative government.
He said First Nations have not given consent and will stop the referendum in any way they can, including getting in the way of industry, or, in his words, “going out on the highways.”
Mercredi was joined in Edmonton by Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam, Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation Chief Sheldon Sunshine, and Chief Billy Joe Laboucan of the Lubicon Lake Band.
“We are organizing and strategizing right now — it may include civil disobedience, but that is the last resort,” said Mercredi.
“There can be no decisions about Alberta separating without consultation and consent of our First Nations.”
Smith has said she supports the province staying in Canada, but that Albertans deserve the opportunity to go to the ballot box and resolve the long running debate over its role in Confederation.
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On Oct. 19, Albertans will vote on whether they want to stay in Canada or start the process to hold a second, binding referendum on quitting the country.
The Treaty 8 chiefs penned an open letter to Smith’s government, demanding it halt the referendum process without full consultation and consent from Treaty 8 First Nations.
Treaty rights are the constitutionally recognized, nation-to-nation agreements signed more than a century ago between the Crown and Canada’s Indigenous peoples.
The lands of five different treaty nations fall within the boundaries of Alberta: the big three are Treaty 8, whose territory covers more than 840,000 square kilometres spanning northern Alberta, parts of the Northwest Territories, northwestern Saskatchewan and northeastern B.C.
Treaty 6 in Edmonton and central Alberta, and Treaty 7 stretching from south of Red Deer to the Canada-U.S. border. Small slivers of two other regions also stretch into Alberta: Treaty 10 near Cold Lake, and Treaty 4 east of Medicine Hat.
The treaties were signed between First Nations and the Crown, before Alberta became a province in 1905.
In the letter, Mercredi writes that the duty to consult is required by the Constitution whenever government action might adversely impact treaty rights.
“Treaty No. 8, signed in 1899, predates the province of Alberta by six years. Alberta was created in 1905 as a creature of Confederation. It entered Confederation subject to existing Treaty obligations, not above them,” the letter states.
In response to the letter, Smith’s press secretary Sam Blackett reiterated the premier’s stance that thousands of Albertans petitioned for the referendum, and the question does not trigger any duty to consult First Nations.
“We trust that Albertans will freely and openly debate this question and ultimately make the right decision for our province,” he said in a statement.
Mercredi said the debate over seceding from Canada is inciting racism against Indigenous people in their communities, pointing to people being harassed on the highway and receiving abuse online.
He said Indigenous people are being targeted for standing up for their treaty rights.
“We have a premier that has the power to stop all of this talk of separation,” he said.
Trust in the UCP, he added, has been “fundamentally ruined.”
Mercredi said it’s a national constitutional issue, and they’ll be asking the federal government to reinforce the Clarity Act, which allows Parliament to weigh in on separation questions.
Alberta’s Opposition NDP has accused Smith of ignoring the law and dragging the province into a crisis in order to appease the separatist base of her party.
“(Smith) doesn’t like having to follow what the courts have to say, and she doesn’t like following what the Constitution has to say,” said NDP deputy leader Rakhi Pancholi.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has told Smith to, at the least, put a pause on the referendum. In Winnipeg on Thursday he said he supports the Treaty 8 chiefs in their fight.
“I think it’s great,” he said.
“There’s no need for a separation referendum.”
— With files from Ian Bickis in Winnipeg, The Canadian Press and Karen Bartko, Global News
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