EDMONTON — Legal counsel, Jefferey Rath, outlined calls for a stay order to reactive Stay Free Alberta's independence petition in court on Thursday, claiming that, at the very least, the individuals who volunteered and signed the petition deserve to have their signatures verified. Stay Free Alberta is appealing the decision of Justice Shaina Leonard, who effectively shut down Stay Free Alberta's petition after ruling that Alberta's Chief Electoral Officer erred in issuing organizer Mitch Sylvestre a petition, and that the government had failed to execute their duty to consult First Nations. Justice Alice Woolley heard arguments from Rath, as well as legal counsels for the Government of Alberta and Elections Alberta, all of whom called on her to issue a stay order and temporarily suspend Leonard's decision until a full appeal on the matter can be heard..Rath said Leonard's decision to effectively shut down the petition violated the statutory rights of the 7,000 Albertans who canvassed throughout the winter and the over 301,000 individuals who signed a petition expecting to have their voices heard. He claims Leonard has truncated the statutory process available to Albertans to have their voices heard by not even allowing the signatures to be validated and counted. Premier Danielle Smith called on May 21 for a referendum question on Alberta independence to be placed on the October referendum, though the question is not a direct and binding one because she said Leonard's decision would require prior First Nations consultation. Counsels for the collection of Alberta First Nations, who serve as defendants in the appeal, said Smith's question negates the need for a stay by nullifying any harm caused by Leonard's decision, as it still allows the individuals to express their will regarding Alberta independence. Rath said the question does not fill the void, though, because the individuals who signed the petition did so expecting their question to be put to a referendum. .Their arguments further revolved around whether Leonard was correct that the Government of Alberta's duty to consult First Nations prior to any action that could infringe Treaty rights was activated by the CEO's decision to issue an Alberta independence petition. Stay Free Alberta and the UCP have adamantly said Leonard's interpretation significantly undermines citizens' ability to pose questions to their government because, under her ruling, every petition on any topic would require First Nations consultation. Rath told the court that such a ruling is like preventing Canada Post from delivering mail because there may be a letter addressed to an MLA expressing an argument that someone does not want heard. He further said the duty to consult, at the earliest, should be triggered once the petition is verified and the government is forced to hold a referendum. .Woolley raised questions with both sides, but her primary concern was the implications of granting a stay. Elections Alberta's counsel, Joseph Redman, said that if a stay were ordered, the petition would be reactivated where it had been paused, meaning the signatures would be counted, verified and passed along to the government for a referendum. Conversely, the First Nations representatives said granting the stay would harm their clients because an Alberta independence referendum question would then be allowed to proceed without First Nations consultation. Another concern expressed by Woolley was an unanswered point raised by the First Nations groups during the initial judicial review, in which they claimed the Citizen Initiative Act is unconstitutional.Leonard opted not to address the constitutionality point after already ruling to quash the petition, but Woolley raised concerns that, even if Sylvestre won the appeal, the petition would once again be shut down to address the unanswered claims. .Rath told Woolley the stay was necessary because the October referendum is approaching, and the Stay Free Alberta petition needs to be verified before October, as a referendum cannot be held within one year of the scheduled 2027 general election. The matter is complicated, however, because Smith claims Elections Alberta has told her that the deadline to place any question on the October referendum ballot was June 1. Woolley opted to reserve her decision to properly assess the arguments, but said she understands the importance of making a quick decision.
