Indigenous groups win legal challenge against referendum – for now.
A liberal judge in Alberta dealt a blow to Alberta’s separatists by ruling that they can’t proceed with a petition to force a vote on a separation from Canada.
The reason stated is that the government ‘failed to meet its obligation to consult with Indigenous people’.
BREAKING: A liberal-appointed judge just blocked the democratic will of 300,000+ Albertans who signed through the Citizen Initiative Act process to put Independence on the Oct. 19 ballot.
Danielle Smith must use her authority, listen to Albertans, and let the people vote. pic.twitter.com/5dyomHN8DZ
— Rise Of Alberta (@RiseOfAlberta) May 13, 2026
Bloomberg reported:
“The decision from the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta is a major setback for a group seeking independence for Alberta, a western Canadian province that holds most of the country’s known oil reserves and exports millions of barrels a day of crude to the US.
A pro-independence group known as Stay Free Alberta submitted a petition earlier this month, claiming more than 301,000 signatures in favor of a referendum to break away from Canada. But the judge in the case ruled that the province’s chief electoral officer made an error in law by allowing the separatists’ petition to go forward.”
Her cabinet will soon decide whether to use its authority to put an independence question on the Oct. 19 referendum ballot. pic.twitter.com/ybDxA3D43D
— Rise Of Alberta (@RiseOfAlberta) May 13, 2026
Reacting to the ruling, the Alberta provincial government announced it plans to appeal the decision by the Alberta Court of King’s Bench justice.
CBC reported:
“In two decisions issued Wednesday, Justice Shaina Leonard found that Elections Alberta’s chief electoral officer Gordon McClure made an error in law to approve the second citizen initiative petition and failed to consider an earlier court decision that said separation would violate Indigenous people’s treaty rights. Leonard’s conclusion says there was an error of law, ‘rendering the [chief electoral officer]’s decision unreasonable’.
At an unrelated news conference, Premier Danielle Smith spoke about her government’s plans to appeal Leonard’s decision.
‘We think that today’s decision by the court will deny opportunity to well over 300,000 Albertans to have their petition verified by Elections Alberta’, Smith said Wednesday afternoon. ‘We think that this decision is incorrect in law and anti-democratic, and we will be appealing it as a result. “Our cabinet and caucus will, of course, be meeting in the next couple of days to discuss the full context and make some decisions after we’ve had a chance to talk it through’.”
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