Alberta separatist campaign faces legal hurdles
5/6/202624 min
This week marked an important milestone in the separatist campaign in Alberta. After months of getting people to sign their petitions to trigger a referendum on independence, the separatist leaders submitted their signatures to Elections Alberta for verification. But Elections Alberta cannot count the signatures right now.
That’s because of a court injunction that was put in place last month while a judge considers whether the treaty rights of some First Nations have been violated. It’s one of many legal challenges the separatist movement in Alberta is facing. Matthew Scace is a Globe reporter based in Alberta. He’ll explain the two major cases against the separatists, and what the leaders say they’ll do if the courts don’t rule in their favour.
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First 90 secondsJeffrey Rath· Soundbite0:00
[bell dings] Listen, folks, we stand at the precipice of one of the greatest moments in the history of Alberta. We're about to hand in the signatures- Yep ... for this province to become- Let's go ... a free republic.
Cheryl Sutherland· Host0:12
[crowd cheers] Monday marked an important milestone in the separatist campaign in Alberta.
Jeffrey Rath· Soundbite0:19
The same page After months of getting people to sign their petitions, the separatist leaders submitted their signatures to Elections Alberta for verification ... through, and I just want to extend my heartfelt thanks to all of my fellow Albertans who took the time to engage, to send a strong message to Ottawa that Alberta is leaving Canada.
Mitch Sylvestre· Soundbite0:40
[crowd cheers] How you feeling, Jeff? How are you?
Jeffrey Rath· Soundbite0:43
How am I feeling?
Mitch Sylvestre· Soundbite0:44
Yeah.
Jeffrey Rath· Soundbite0:45
Happy and relieved. It was a lot of work, and it was full-time work for four months, and, uh, we're happy to be done. We're happy with the number. We're happy with everything. It's just good.
Cheryl Sutherland· Host0:56
[gentle music] That was separatist leaders Jeffrey Rath and Mitch Sylvestre. They say that the campaign has submitted over 300,000 signatures. There's a referendum already scheduled for this fall, and that many signatures is more than enough to add a question about Alberta independence. There's only one problem: all of this may not matter. There's a legal challenge questioning the validity of the separatists' petition, and it isn't the only court battle the separatists