treaty chiefs called on the RCMP<\/a> to investigate Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for treason, arguing Indigenous treaty rights were being disrespected. Smith responded by saying they should \u201ccheck themselves.\u201d<\/p>\nJoanne Dan of the Blackfoot Confederacy explained her concerns regarding the disputes.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada now wants to abolish our treaties, our status rights [\u2026] if we lose our treaty rights, we then will have nothing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Dan said First Nations were not meaningfully consulted on the province\u2019s separation plans and criticized the premier\u2019s response to treaty chiefs.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the Indigenous, we weren\u2019t even consulted,\u201d Dan said. \u201cDanielle Smith [\u2026] disrespecting again to say the chiefs need to check themselves. Danielle needs to check herself. Alberta is not Danielle\u2019s playground to do as she will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indigenous advocate Nichole Johnston also spoke about the importance of treaty relationships, describing them as ongoing agreements rather than historical documents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe treaties are living promises, promises that continue to bind us today,\u201d said Johnston.\u00a0 \u201cThey were made between the Crown and sovereign First Nations, not between a government and its subjects.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnston said the duty to consult Indigenous communities is a constitutional obligation, not an optional process.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeaningful consultation is [\u2026] more than holding one meeting,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s more than informing First Nations after decisions have already been made. Consultation must begin before decisions are finalized.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRespecting treaties does not weaken Alberta. It strengthens Alberta,\u201d Johnston said.<\/p>\n
Several attendees said concerns about treaty rights and Alberta\u2019s political direction were among the reasons they attended the rally.<\/p>\n
Jade said they came to support Indigenous communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family is Indigenous. My mother was a Sixties Scoop baby [\u2026] so it deeply impacts me because we had our ancestry and our heritage and our culture stolen from us,\u201d said Jade. \u201cTo hear a government blatantly picking a fight with Indigenous groups in this province who are simply standing up to protect the treaties that have a history of being ignored [\u2026] it\u2019s just frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peter, a volunteer with Forever Canadian, said they attended because they wanted Albertans to recognize the benefits of remaining part of Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to help people become aware of how good we have it,\u201d said Peter. \u201cWe can be very complacent when things are going well, and I just want that complacency to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charlotte, another attendee, carried a flag in honour of their father, who served in the military.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad was in the war and you know, he fought hard for Canada,\u201d said Charlotte. \u201cI\u2019m carrying a flag for him because he would be so disgusted with what\u2019s happening within the province and how people are rallying around this idea of leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barnowich said she hopes the rally encourages Albertans to remain engaged in discussions about the province\u2019s future as the referendum approaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t just roll over and be quiet,\u201d she said. \u201cI just want people to keep showing up, to keep encouraging more people to come to these things, to make our voices heard.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Elaine Liang, August 12 2026\u2014 Waving Alberta and Canadian flags, Albertans gathered in downtown Calgary on June…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[26826,13447,53341,17,16556],"class_list":["post-166105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-alberta-referendum","tag-alberta-separatists","tag-alberta-votes","tag-canada","tag-separatism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}