An Alberta judge says a referendum proposal on Alberta separating from Canada goes against Charter and and Treaty rights, in a decision given less than 24 hours after the provincial government introduced legislation that would have ended the court proceeding.
Once Bill 14 came into force, the court action would have been discontinued, preventing Court of King’s Bench Justice Colin Feasby from issuing a decision, even though several days of arguments had already been presented.
The proposed referendum question, submitted by Alberta resident Mitch Sylvestre, is “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province in Canada?”
Feasby’s decision concludes that the referendum proposal contravenes several sections of the Constitution Act. He added that this doesn’t mean the Constitution can’t be amended or that Alberta can’t hold a referendum on separation.
The question, referred to the courts by provincial chief electoral officer Gordon McClure, “engages” with the Constitution, Feasby said, but “this case does not conclude that the constitution prohibits anything; this decision is only about whether the referendum proponent’s constitutional referendum proposal is allowed by the [Citizen Initiative Act].”
In his ruling, the judge said Alberta’s Citizen Initiative Act, as it was before the proposed changes under Bill 14, “did not give citizens the power to initiate a referendum on the question of independence from Canada.”
The Citizen Initiative Act will see a number of changes under the amendments proposed in Bill 14, including removing a provision that a proposed referendum question can’t contravene the Constitution.
!ping Can
LifeBalance714 on
omg why does alberta think it can actually be independent from canada?? like just accept you’re part of the country and stop acting like this is some kind of revolutionary freedom movement.
989989272 on
Does Alberta want to go independent as one of the most landlocked places on earth? Or do they want to go all in on the America fetish as state 51.
3 Comments
An Alberta judge says a referendum proposal on Alberta separating from Canada goes against Charter and and Treaty rights, in a decision given less than 24 hours after the provincial government introduced legislation that would have ended the court proceeding.
Once Bill 14 came into force, the court action would have been discontinued, preventing Court of King’s Bench Justice Colin Feasby from issuing a decision, even though several days of arguments had already been presented.
The proposed referendum question, submitted by Alberta resident Mitch Sylvestre, is “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province in Canada?”
Feasby’s decision concludes that the referendum proposal contravenes several sections of the Constitution Act. He added that this doesn’t mean the Constitution can’t be amended or that Alberta can’t hold a referendum on separation.
The question, referred to the courts by provincial chief electoral officer Gordon McClure, “engages” with the Constitution, Feasby said, but “this case does not conclude that the constitution prohibits anything; this decision is only about whether the referendum proponent’s constitutional referendum proposal is allowed by the [Citizen Initiative Act].”
In his ruling, the judge said Alberta’s Citizen Initiative Act, as it was before the proposed changes under Bill 14, “did not give citizens the power to initiate a referendum on the question of independence from Canada.”
The Citizen Initiative Act will see a number of changes under the amendments proposed in Bill 14, including removing a provision that a proposed referendum question can’t contravene the Constitution.
!ping Can
omg why does alberta think it can actually be independent from canada?? like just accept you’re part of the country and stop acting like this is some kind of revolutionary freedom movement.
Does Alberta want to go independent as one of the most landlocked places on earth? Or do they want to go all in on the America fetish as state 51.