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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 has renewed a call for Smith to put a stop to an upcoming referendum on it.
He points 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, and calls the United Conservatives “lawless.”
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 spans 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.
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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.
On Thursday, Mercredi 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, “getting out on the highway.”
Smith has said she supports the province staying in Canada, but says Albertans deserve the opportunity to go to the ballot box and resolve the long running debate over its role in Confederation.
On Oct. 19, Albertans will vote on whether to stay in Canada or to ask the province to lay the groundwork for a second referendum on quitting the country.
With files from Karen Bartko, Global News
— More to come…
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