Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi speaks as First Nations chiefs, band councillors and elders gather to call on Premier Danielle Smith's government to stomp out the push for the province to leave Canada, at the Alberta legislature in Edmonton on March 9.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
Matthew Wildcat is a member of Ermineskin Cree Nation and the director of Indigenous Governance and Partnership at the University of Alberta.
The relief offered to First Nations in Alberta by Justice Shaina Leonard’s ruling almost two weeks ago, which seemed to halt the march toward a secession referendum, was joyful but brief.
The ruling found, among other things, that the Crown had a duty to consult First Nations before holding a vote on secession. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s recent announcement of a referendum to have a referendum has shown her willingness to bank her political future on threading the needle within the increasingly narrow margins offered by appeasing her separatist base while insisting on a “sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.” The vote to take place on Oct. 19 asks if “Alberta should remain a province of Canada” or if the province should start a legal process to hold a binding separation referendum.
There is no doubt Alberta First Nations will continue to pursue action in the courts. In addition to legal strategies, First Nations have also been communicating their opposition to separation through at least 35 press releases and open letters since April, 2025. The opposition is near unanimous: 47 of 48 chiefs and councils in Alberta have declared opposition to the actions of the UCP government, either through their own press release, a treaty organization or regional tribal council.
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Ms. Smith has spent her entire tenure as Premier stoking the separatist movement, from the November, 2022 introduction of the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act to her latest attempt to sidestep and stall further engagement with the treaties between First Nations and the Crown. The momentum built up by the sovereignty movement is now substantial enough that it will almost surely persist past the referendum regardless of the result.
So, what should be the response of First Nations in Alberta? In addition to a legal and communication strategy, now is the time to build a political strategy. The success of the separatist movement to date has been almost entirely on a political terrain. They have translated their significant popular support into political wins enacted by the provincial government, most distinctly expressed by Bill 54, which lowered the threshold for a citizen-led petition to initiate a referendum.
First Nations must respond on a political terrain, not by attempting to influence provincial or federal politics, but through focusing on inter-Indigenous politics. It is time for First Nations to turn to each other and prepare politically through an embrace of inter-Indigenous multilateralism. By focusing on setting out our own political processes, we can focus our political energy on actions under our control.
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Co-ordinating action across 47 governments is no easy feat, but an easy target is available in this moment of urgency. First Nations can establish a Treaty Commission. The Commission should study how First Nation peoples’ understanding of Treaties 6, 7 and 8 inform Canadian constitutionalism. Attention can be devoted to our current moment as well as being forward looking. One objection from an Indigenous legal perspective is that we already know Alberta secession is illegal. Why bother spending the money studying an issue we already know the answer to?
Here, the point of a commission is not to create a reconciliation between First Nations and the Alberta Government on secession. Instead, a commission must be motivated by a treaty curiosity – that Indigenous peoples’ understanding of treaties is a form of reasoning that can generate inspiring ways of how all people live together and how we relate to the natural world.
Just as importantly, a Treaty Commission will be an act of Indigenous sovereignty in two instances. First, commissions are investigative bodies that receive their mandate from an authority, in this case by First Nations in Alberta. Second, First Nations in Alberta could ratify the findings of a Treaty Commission or distill the findings into a succinct declaration or communique. A commission is a tangible goal that will allow First Nations to move firmly onto a political terrain, and expand the depth and weight of our own expressions of sovereignty.
The emboldened Alberta separatist movement will continue to pose a threat to the foundational nature of treaty relationship between First Nations and the Crown for years to come. In response, First Nations need to prioritize a political strategy where we remain in control of the process and outcomes. A Treaty Commission will not only place ourselves in a better position to respond to this moment but will also increase our capacity to articulate a vision of the future for everyone.