By: Corbett Gildersleve, Opinions Editor
The Alberta and BC governments have both experienced setbacks in court on cases brought by First Nations groups due to both government’s lack of seeking consultation with said groups. Each government’s response has been to amend or try to suspend laws or attempt to find a workaround. BC has learned its lesson to not do that due to public pushback from the First Nations Leadership Council, the BC Assembly of First Nations, and members within the New Democratic Party (NDP) caucus. I expect we’ll see the same in Alberta in a few months as their government tries to push forward a fall referendum to help Alberta separatists. When it comes to access and control of natural resources on Indigenous land, the BC and Alberta governments conveniently always forget their promises of reconciliation. Instead of following the lead of Indigenous Peoples, these governments would rather mess with laws to try and get their way.
Alberta separatism grew in the 1980s during Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s second term when he passed the National Energy Program. This program impacted the province’s oil and gas sector, put price caps, new taxes, and supported resource exploration. Separatism shrank over the years as governments and programs changed, but oil and gas, and its exploitation, is part of Alberta’s heritage and culture.
The Alberta separatist group, Stay Free Alberta, independence referendum petition was shut down by Alberta’s Superior Court on May 13. The first version of this separation petition was ruled unconstitutional in a separate case with the judge stating Alberta’s Citizen Initiative Act, which regulates petitions, “did not give citizens the power to initiate a referendum on the question of independence from Canada.” The Alberta government responded by changing the act allowing this group to try again. These changes lowered the amount of required signatures, removed the restriction that referendum questions cannot contravene parts of the Canadian constitution, and reduced the power of Alberta’s chief electoral officer.
The Namês Sâkahikan (Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation), the K’ai Tailé Denesųłiné (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), and the Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy, which includes the Aamskapi Pikuni (Blackfeet Nation), the Apatosi Piikani (Peigan Nation), and the Siksika (Blackfoot Nation), and the Kainaiwa (Blood Tribe) sued. They argued successfully that Alberta independence would significantly impact their treaties — signed with the Crown before Alberta existed, and that the government had a constitutional duty to consult them. The judge agreed and stopped the petition from going forward. The Alberta government plans to appeal, and in the meantime will run a fall referendum asking Albertans to vote on if they want to hold a referendum on separation or stay in Canada. In all of this, the Alberta government has used its powers to support the separatist movement.
December 5, the BC court of appeals affirmed that BC’s Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) was legally enforceable on BC’s laws. This case was about the intersection of the federal government’s Declaration Act, DRIPA, Indigenous Peoples’ title rights, and BC’s Mineral Tenure Act which allows people to make mineral claims. The government has an automated online registry system that lets anyone stake a claim to mineral rights on Indigenous land without consultation. The first judge recognized that the 30-year old law was inconsistent with DRIPA and ruled that the government needed to update the system to allow for initial consultation. But, they declared that DRIPA was not legally enforceable. The Git Lax M’oon (Gitxaała Nation) and ʔiiḥatisatḥ činax̣int (Ehattesaht First Nation) appealed and won.
On December 10, Premier David Eby reacted by telling the BC Chamber of Commerce, a group representing over 36,000 businesses in BC, he will amend DRIPA. The First Nations Leadership Council, the BC Assembly of First Nations, and even members of the NDP caucus were against the amendments. Eby changed his mind and instead decided to suspend parts of DRIPA for three years to give his government time to challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision. Eby even tried to make these changes a confidence vote, which if failed, would have caused new elections. By April 19, he would back down again and decided to work with First Nations on a joint approach to address the government’s concerns.
BC’s premier learned the hard way by not respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights, instead trying to keep our colonialist status quo when a court ruling didn’t go his way.
Now we’ll see how Premier Danielle Smith in Alberta fairs over the next few months. Both failed to take consultation with affected Indigenous nations seriously and have tried to use their political power to sidestep working with these groups just to keep colonial exploitation over resources. Governments, stop messing with laws to get around your responsibilities and instead work with the Peoples who have existed here since time immemorial.
