Nenshi said laws around petitions will have to change to avoid another referendum

The Alberta NDP is warning of another referendum on leaving Canada, as the province continues to appeal a court ruling that blocked a separatist group’s petition.

“If she prevails in this court case, I don’t see how she cannot have another referendum without changing her own law,” Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi said of Premier Danielle Smith at a news conference.

Nenshi was referring to the statutory requirements under the Citizenship Initiative Act, which legally oblige the province to hold a referendum on a question if its petition secures the required number of signatures. Stay Free Alberta, a separatist group, led the petition and collected more than 300,000 signatures, nearly double the required threshold.

However, a group of First Nations, led by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, challenged the petition in the Court of King’s Bench, which ruled in May that the chief electoral officer shouldn’t have approved the petition without conducting its constitutional duty to consult with them.

The province appealed the decision, with its lawyers presenting 14 reasons Justice Shaina Leonard erred in her decision.

Meanwhile, the government included a question about separation in the recent referendum, justifying it through a different petition led by former UCP MLA Thomas Lukaszuk that was introduced specifically for MLAs to vote on the question in the legislature.

Smith said the move was a way for people to finally vote on an issue that galvanized hundreds of thousands of Albertans. The question, which asked whether Albertans wanted to remain a part of Canada or begin the process of holding a binding referendum, garnered 75 per cent support for federalism.

However, the appeal against blocking the separatist petition continues.

Leonard’s decision centres on the province’s and the petition leader’s failure to consult affected Indigenous communities, enshrined in Section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982. Smith has repeatedly called the interpretation and the judge’s decision “anti-democratic.”

“It is a single judge who has made a decision, and we have now 700,000 Albertans — whether they’re on the remain side or the leave side — who’ve said that they want to have this public debate,” Smith said in May.

If successful, the appeal could set a legal precedent that challenges the interpretation of Section 35, allowing the province to circumvent the obligation to consult Indigenous Nations for such matters.

It would further strain relationships between the government and First Nations, said Brooks Arcand-Paul, Alberta NDP Indigenous relations critic.

“I’ve seen this fight for as long as we’ve had conversations about consultation. There’s this idea that Indigenous Nations will have a veto,” said Arcand-Paul.

“We have this thing called a Constitution and the division of powers that also lay out how we all work together. If we were afraid of that veto, we should sit down and figure out what conversation that consultation would require.”

However, winning the appeal could also theoretically lead to another referendum.

“If the Alberta government wins, there will automatically be another referendum,” Nenshi said. “And we haven’t heard a word from the premier about all of this.”

Smith said in a televised address earlier this week that she would honour the mandate she received from Albertans.

“As long as I am premier, I will honour this mandate from Albertans and will not be holding another referendum on this issue,” she said. “It is time to move forward together as a strong and free Alberta within a united Canada.

She also disavowed separatist sentiment in her party on Wednesday.

“My expectation is that everyone who wants to speak on behalf of our party as a candidate or as an official in an official role will accept the mandate that we’ve been given by Albertans,” Smith said.

The province didn’t immediately respond to Postmedia’s request for clarification on how it would proceed if it wins the appeal.