Stan Isadore Council Representative for Driftpile First Nation leads the grand entry during a demonstration opposing Alberta separation, in Edmonton on May 15.JASON FRANSON/The Globe and Mail
A First Nation in Alberta has reinvigorated its efforts to challenge the province’s sovereignty act in court, saying the move is a response to what the Indigenous group describes as a growing separatist agenda that threatens treaty rights.
The sovereignty act, passed by Premier Danielle Smith’s government in December, 2022, was intended to give the province the power to shirk federal laws and policies deemed harmful to Alberta. Onion Lake Cree Nation, which straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, filed a statement of claim at Court of King‘s Bench soon after the act passed.
The suit alleges the sovereignty act infringes on the rights of its members to pursue traditional ceremonies, associations and ways of life (hunting, fishing, trapping) by circumventing the original Treaty agreements in place between First Nations and the Crown. The act’s legality under the Constitution of Canada has not been tested in court.
Onion Lake’s lawyer, Robert Hladun, said at a Thursday news conference that the First Nation put the suit on pause after it was filed, hoping the government would address the community’s concerns. But Onion Lake Chief Henry Lewis said his First Nation is now advancing the case, and that the suit has given the province a June 6 deadline to produce a statement of defence.
“Premier Smith’s sovereignty act combined with many of the significant changes with two other laws sends a clear signal that her government is willing to manipulate laws, intimidate First Nations and control public opinion to push the separatist agenda,” Mr. Lewis said at the news conference.
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The province late last month introduced Bill 54, which, along with sweeping reforms to Alberta’s election processes, would make it easier for citizen-led referendums to occur. Onion Lake’s suit is part of a flurry of aggressive action by First Nations across Canada to put an early halt to growing calls for a referendum on Alberta’s separation. Indigenous groups argue their rights enshrined in treaties predate the formation of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Later Thursday, Alberta First Nations groups and opponents of Premier Danielle Smith’s approach to sovereignty, including against Bill 54, rallied in protest at the Alberta legislature.
Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery said in a Thursday statement addressing Onion Lake’s suit that the government “is deeply committed to honouring and respecting all Treaty rights enshrined in the Constitution – that will not change. We will be filing our statement of defence in due course.”
Earlier this week, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak called on the federal government to do a constitutional review of the Natural Resources Transfer Agreements (NRTA), reached between Ottawa and the provincial governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in 1930, long after treaties with First Nations on those lands had been signed.
Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak argued the agreements violated the numbered treaties because First Nations weren’t included in any negotiations.
“It is time for Canada and the province to acknowledge that the NRTA is incompatible with both the constitutional framework of Canada and the nation-to-nation relationship it has committed to with First Nations,” she wrote.
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But Rachel Snow, a legal expert from the Stoney Nakoda Nation in Alberta, cautioned that the NRTA is a historic, complex agreement. While it granted the Western provinces rights to natural resources, she said, it is also subject to other interests including First Nations treaty rights.
Ms. Snow said the NRTA actually protects the First Nations treaty rights and it is the provinces that have breached the constitutional document.
“So, before Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Alberta can go ahead and separate or do anything else, we have to discuss the breach,” she told The Globe and Mail.
At the Alberta legislature on Thursday, protesters were angry about Bill 54 potentially facilitating a referendum on the province’s separation. Among the crowd of people holding flags, picket signs and drums, Theresa M. Cardinal of of Saddle Lake Cree Nation kept a careful watch over her granddaughter.
“Separation would hurt us as a nation, as a people,” said Ms. Cardinal, adding that she came to the rally with her family to fight for the treaties.
“Bill 54 is creating a division, and it’s dishonour to the treaty people,” Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 First Nation Chief Greg Desjarlais told reporters ahead of the rally.
In response to the concerns. Alberta introduced an amendment to the bill this week to acknowledge treaty rights. But Mr. Desjarlais said it wasn’t what he and other chiefs had asked for, nor was it strong enough.
“They have to repeal the bill,” he said.