Alberta separatists win partial victory in appeals court

The Alberta Court of Appeal has given Elections Alberta the go-ahead to verify the signatures of a petition by Alberta separatists.

Elections Alberta has been granted permission to begin the verification process for a petition by Alberta separatists after a decision by the Alberta Court of Appeals.

The petition by Stay Free Alberta had been stalled in May after a judge found Premier Danielle Smith’s government neglected its duty to consult First Nations.

Both the province and Stay Free Alberta appealed the ruling.

Jeffery Rath, a lawyer for Stay Free Alberta, applied for a stay, arguing Elections Alberta should be allowed to verify what he says are more than 300,000 signatures collected in support of referendum on separation.

“In my view, the appellant will suffer irreparable harm if the verification process does not take place until the final resolution of this legal dispute, particularly bearing in mind the possibility of an appeal to the Supreme Court, or the constitutional questions being remitted to the Court of King’s Bench for further consideration,” Justice Alice Woolley wrote in her decision dated Monday.

“Accurate verification will become more difficult as time passes. People who signed the petition may move or die. They may change addresses or phone numbers. Trust and confidence in the security and integrity of the collected sheets will begin to erode.”

Woolley also wrote that the petition cannot advance to a referendum until the appeal is determined.

However, Albertans will still be voting on a separation related issue in the fall.

After the petition had been thrown out, Smith announced that Albertans will vote Oct. 19 on whether they want to remain in Canada or start the process to hold a second, binding vote on leaving Confederation.

Smith said the question her government came up with was in response to the ruling and the fact that two competing petitions on either side of the separatist debate had generated hundreds of thousands of signatures.

Woolley wrote that while the question put forward by Smith’s government isn’t what Stay Free Alberta is seeking, she thinks it’s a clear sign the group’s campaign didn’t go unnoticed.

“If a majority (on Oct. 19) chooses to commence the legal process to hold a binding referendum on whether Alberta should separate from Canada, a question akin to (Stay Free Alberta’s) may well be put to voters.”

Rath said Monday he was pleased with Woolley’s decision.

“We think it’s a great day in Alberta for democracy,” he said in an interview.

Rath has been a fierce critic of Smith for putting a “question to have a question” to voters rather than a binding separation vote, and he said he thinks having the signatures verified will put pressure on Smith to act.

He said a majority of members of Smith’s United Conservative Party want to see Alberta go its own way, and said Smith is “constantly thwarting” her own supporters by taking the federalist side.

“It’s time for Danielle Smith to do the right thing: either give us our question or resign,” Rath said.

A spokesperson for Justice Minister Mickey Amery said Woolley’s decision was a “positive development” while the government waits for its appeal to be heard.

“In the interim, Alberta’s government will continue with the current referendum question,” said Amery’s press secretary Heather Jenkins.

Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, one of the nations that challenged the petition in court, said it respects Woolley’s decision, and will continue to fight to make sure last month’s ruling isn’t overturned.

“The separatists are still trying to force their issue onto the ballot, but Albertans have an opportunity (on Oct. 19) to shut this down for good,” the nation said through its lawyers in a statement.

Provincial law requires Elections Alberta to verify referendum petition signatures within 21 days. A spokesperson for the agency said it was reviewing Woolley’s decision.