AFN stands with Treaties 6, 7 and 8 on Alberta exit vote

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said the organization stands with the First Nations of Treaties 6, 7 and 8 in opposing the Alberta separation question on the province’s referendum ballot, in a statement dated Oct. 17 and published Oct. 18.

“We stand in solidarity with Treaty 6, 7 and 8,” Woodhouse Nepinak said in the release, which the AFN issued from Ottawa ahead of Monday’s vote. “Treaty Nations in Alberta are in sovereign relationships with the Crown,” she said, adding that “no province has the right to alter these constitutional realities.”

The AFN urged Albertans to vote for unity over division. The release also praised Alberta chiefs and community leaders for their get-out-the-vote efforts and for challenging the legality of the separation question over the past year. It did not quote any Treaty chiefs directly.

Woodhouse Nepinak said the AFN will re-invite Premier Danielle Smith to the First Nations-First Ministers’ Meeting in Ottawa, regardless of the result. The AFN said it will also invite Smith to a National Day of Ceremony with the prime minister and other first ministers on Sunday, Oct. 25. The meeting itself is set for Oct. 26, as Canada News Media reported earlier this month.

The question on the ballot asks whether Alberta should remain a province of Canada or whether the Government of Alberta should begin the legal process required under the Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether to separate, according to LiveWire Calgary’s report on the premier’s May 21 announcement. Smith has said the question would not by itself trigger separation.

The Treaty chiefs have opposed the process for months. In a Jan. 9 statement, the Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 First Nations, Tsuut’ina Nation, the Blackfoot Confederacy and the Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta said they “affirm our unified opposition to Alberta separation.” They called the government’s support for the separation petition “a direct violation of Treaty obligations and the Honour of the Crown.”

On May 13, Court of King’s Bench Justice Shaina Leonard ruled that the province must consult First Nations before approving the independence petition, reasoning that a binding result could adversely affect Aboriginal and treaty rights, JURIST reported.

The government’s position is that the new question creates no binding obligation to pursue independence, so it owes no duty to consult. Smith has said, “I support Alberta remaining in Canada,” and called the court decision “erroneous.” She said her government would appeal.

Access to the vote has also been a concern for First Nations. Leaders in northern Alberta said polling stations in Fort Chipewyan were changed days before the vote, as Canada News Media reported. Elections Alberta had not responded to those claims when that report was published. More than one million ballots had been cast by the end of advance voting.

The AFN’s full statement is available on the Assembly of First Nations website.

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