Judge rules to temporarily prevent Alberta independence petition from certification

EDMONTON – Justice Shaina Leonard issued a stay on Friday to temporarily prevent Alberta's Chief Electoral Officer from certifying the Stay Free Alberta independence petition until after she completes a full judicial review. Leonard issued her decision after hearing arguments on Wednesday and Thursday regarding the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the Blackfoot Confederacy's applications for a judicial review of the CEO's decisions to issue a second independence petition.The decision will not prevent Stay Free Alberta from collecting signatures ahead of their May 2 petition submission deadline; it will not be able to advance past that point until after Leonard has completed her full judicial review. .Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the Blackfoot Confederacy asked Leonard to grant the stay as part of their arguments in court, in which they primarily claim that the CEO misunderstood the intention of Bill 14: Justice Statutes Amendment Act. The CEO believed Bill 14 left them forced them to issue the Stay Free Alberta petition, despite a similar petition already being shut down as unconstitutional. Legal counsel for the applicants claims the CEO did not correctly apply the Government of Alberta's intended meaning, arguing that the provincial government did not mean for a petition on a topic that had already been ruled unconstitutional to be brought forward again. Counsels for the Government of Alberta, Stay Free Alberta petition organizer Mitch Sylvester, and the CEO said there was no misinterpretation. The bill was written as intended, and the UCP government had the opportunity to clarify the wording before passing the legislation if they believed it was necessary. .The case also involved discussions about whether an independent Alberta would be constitutional or violate Treaty rights. The First Nations groups primarily claimed that the international borders created by an independent Alberta would violate their mobility rights and would split their land that spans provincial borders, pointing to Justice Collin Feasby's decision to nullify the original independence petition as evidence. Sylvester's counsel, Jeffery Rath, pushed back on claims that Feasby said Alberta independence would be unconstitutional, citing paragraph 249 of Feasby's decision. "Nothing in this decision should be understood to mean that the constitution cannot be amended or that Alberta cannot hold a referendum on separation," reads Feasby's decision. "This decision only stands for the proposition that Alberta in the CIA did not give citizens the power to initiate a referendum on the question of independence from Canada." Rath and the Government of Alberta's counsel, Neil Dobson, both said there are no rights inherently violated by an Alberta independence petition, nor a simple vote on the matter. Leonard is anticipated to complete her review and announce her ruling within a month, but there is no set deadline.

Judge rules to temporarily prevent Alberta independence petition from certification

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