Treaty 6 First Nations stand firm against separation ‘rhetoric’

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on August 16, 2025.

The Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 is standing in solidarity with other Alberta First Nations against the question of Alberta’s separating from Canada.

A judicial review of a proposed Alberta separation referendum question will go ahead, after an application to quash the proceeding and have the question approved without scrutiny was denied. Court of King’s Bench Justice Colin Feasby said in his ruling Thursday that a judicial review and full hearing on the constitutionality of the question would benefit democracy.

In a release Friday, Treaty No. 6 says it will file an official application to intervene in the courts against a proposed referendum question regarding Alberta separating from Canada.

“We will not be idle,” the release said. “Just as First Nations fought for the inclusion of Section 35 in the Constitution, we will continue to fight and oppose the reckless political posturing of this Alberta government and the so-called ‘Alberta Prosperity Project,’ who are in fact engaged in playing political games that endanger the future of all Albertans.”

Alberta’s chief electoral officer, Gordon McClure, referred the question to court last month so a judge could determine whether it violates the Constitution, including treaty rights.

The proposed question: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province in Canada?”

The group that submitted the question, the Alberta Prosperity Project, applied last week to have the referral quashed. Treaty No. 6 says the separatist rhetoric is a direct violation of the Treaty.

“It is also unconstitutional, posing a clear threat to Section 35 of the Constitution Act which protects First Nations Rights,” the release said.

If the proposed question is approved, the Alberta Prosperity Project would need to collect 177,000 signatures in four months to get it on a ballot.

“To those who stood with us and showed their solidarity with Treaty No. 6, No. 7 and No. 8 in May at the Alberta legislature, stand with us now,” the release said. “We must continue to send the message that Treaty is not history – it is a living agreement that binds us all.”

A competing referendum question was approved by McClure in June and asks if Alberta should declare an official policy that it will never separate from Canada.

Efforts to gather signatures for that proposal, put forward by former Progressive Conservative deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk, got underway earlier this month.

Lukaszuk, who is also seeking to intervene in the review, needs to collect nearly 300,000 signatures in 90 days in order to get his question on a ballot. His application was approved before new provincial rules with lower signature thresholds took effect.

On Thursday there was a local public signing event for Hatters outside city hall where 1,787 Hatters declared a desire to keep Alberta part of Canada.

The next public signing will take place Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., out front of Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Justin Wright’s office at 1299 Trans-Canada Way.

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