A judge has reserved her decision on whether to set aside a ruling that quashed an Alberta separatist group’s referendum petition, but says she has some concerns with parts of last month’s judgment.
The ruling in question found that the Stay Free Alberta petition shouldn’t have been issued under provincial law, and that Premier Danielle Smith’s government neglected its duty to consult First Nations.
Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Alice Woolley, hearing arguments Thursday for a potential stay of the ruling, said aspects of her colleague’s decision make her uneasy.
Woolley pointed to the other judge’s interpretation of legislative changes made last year to the petition process, which explicitly allowed the separatist group to reapply after its first application was delayed in court.
Those provisions led Justice Shaina Leonard to rule the petition should have never been issued, saying it wasn’t eligible for consideration again because it had already been rejected by Elections Alberta.
Woolley also pointed to Leonard’s ruling that issuing the petition set off a series of steps that were binding on the province, including implementing the result of a referendum if one is held, and a finding that Alberta’s top elections official can decide matters of law.
“Those three aspects of (Leonard’s) decision, on my review for the purposes only of a stay and the extremely limited record that is before me, cause me some concern,” Woolley told the virtual courtroom Thursday.
Woolley said her concerns shouldn’t be taken as a sign she will rule one way or another. She called it a “very complicated case.”
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Jeff Rath, a lawyer for the petition group Stay Free Alberta, has applied for a stay of Leonard’s decision so that Elections Alberta can verify the petition’s signatures.
The group submitted its petition in May claiming to have collected nearly 302,000 names, but Leonard issued her decision days later before the verification process could begin.
Rath said after the hearing Thursday that he took Woolley’s concerns as a sign she’ll rule in the group’s favour either on the stay, or on its overall appeal of Leonard’s ruling. The provincial government is also appealing the decision.
“You can’t read much into stuff sometimes, but I certainly took that as very positive,” Rath said.
“I think that we got an extremely fair hearing.”
Stay Free Alberta’s petition called for a direct referendum question on the province quitting Canada.
Smith has cited the ruling, the separatist petition and a pro-Canada petition with 404,000 verified signatures as the reason she decided to put a separation question on the province’s Oct. 19 referendum.
The question asks Albertans whether they want to remain in Canada or hold a second, binding vote on separation in the future.
During Thursday’s hearing, lawyers for the First Nations who had originally challenged the petition argued against a stay being granted, saying it would harm the treaty relationship.
Paul Reid, a lawyer for the Blood Tribe, also argued against Rath’s claims that the Stay Free Alberta group and those who signed the petition were being harmed by Leonard’s decision by pointing to the fall referendum.
“The reality is the question that Alberta has put on the referendum ballot really does in a large degree address the concerns of Mr. Rath and his client,” said Reid.
“That is how I view the landscape.”
Woolley said she planned to issue her decision as soon as she could, but again noted the complexity of the case.
“It won’t be long, but it won’t be today.”
Something missing from every conversation about Alberta separatism Who will lead it, and how will it actually be done?
People talk about separation like it’s a switch you flip. It isn’t. It would be the largest political, economic, and social upheaval in modern Canadian history. And yet the loudest separatist voices offer no plan, no leadership structure, no financial roadmap, and no explanation of how daily life would function during or after such a transition.
Right now, separatists are selling a fantasy — that Alberta could walk away and everything would stay the same, just without Ottawa. That is simply not true.
The reality is this:
• Every part of life would change — health care, pensions, taxes, trade, policing, borders, currency, education.
• Fewer people would be left to share the costs.
• No detailed financial plan exists.
• No transition plan exists.
• No leadership framework exists.
• No proof exists for the “billions in revenue” they keep promising.
They keep pointing to oil and gas as if it’s a magic solution. But investment does not flow into instability. Companies don’t pour billions into jurisdictions that look politically volatile or unpredictable. If Alberta became a question mark, not a stable partner, the very revenue separatists rely on would shrink, not grow.
Not once have separatist leaders shown the math. Not once have they detailed the costs. Not once have they explained how Alberta would function in the first five years of independence. They simply assume everything will work out.
This isn’t about Ottawa. This is about the lives of real Albertans.
People with mortgages, jobs, families, medical needs, retirement plans. People who deserve honesty, not slogans.
Before anyone pushes this province toward a cliff, they need to answer the basic questions:
1. Who leads?
2. What is the plan?
3. How will Albertans’ daily lives be protected during the transition?
4. Where is the financial model — with real numbers, not guesses?
Until those questions are answered, separatism is not a movement — it’s a gamble with people’s futures.
Boy, that Danielle Smith must be terrified of Corb Lund’s WATER FOR COAL petition. So scared she’s blocked it from the referendum (after saying she wouldn’t) but not this small band of separatists.
Whom she says she does not support but everything she does supports them. I guess Corb Lund is someone Albertans can actually get behind. Thank you for sticking up for our beautiful province, Corb! Keep Alberta UCP free!
Typical Danielle Smith’s Corruption raises it’s head again.
Maybe she has a lakeview property to sell in the desert! lol!!
Get her out of Politics.
Everyone in country of ALBERTA will own an assault rifle
FREE ALBERTA
liberal government finding ways to taking away our democracy . anything to stay in power
Hope the judge has common sense and rules that the people should decide to stay or go, just like Quebec. And just like Quebec we will clearly tell the separatists that we want to stay in Canada.
The Natives do not have the right to decide that.