{"id":45285,"date":"2026-05-14T17:54:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T17:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/45285\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T17:54:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T17:54:28","slug":"carney-says-alberta-must-respect-indigenous-rights-if-separation-referendum-is-held","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/45285\/","title":{"rendered":"Carney says Alberta must respect Indigenous rights if separation referendum is held"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A separatist supporter holds a box during a rally in front of the Elections Alberta headquarters in Edmonton earlier in May. A judge struck down the petition on Wednesday that called for an independence referendum in the fall.HENRY MARKEN\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Alberta must respect the rights of Indigenous peoples and individual freedoms if it wishes to hold an independence referendum, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday, one day after an Alberta judge struck down a separatist group\u2019s petition<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Court of King\u2019s Bench Justice Shaina Leonard on Wednesday blocked separatist leader Mitch Sylvestre\u2019s petition<\/a>, which sought to force a provincewide vote this fall, saying the province failed to consult with First Nations about how seceding from Canada would affect treaty rights.<\/p>\n

The decision also hinged on recent changes to provincial law by Premier Danielle Smith\u2019s government, which sought to sidestep a prior court ruling. It found residents don\u2019t have the power to initiate an independence referendum under Alberta\u2019s citizen-initiative laws.<\/p>\n

Gary Mason: Premier Danielle Smith leads a separatist party<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Carney referred to Justice Leonard\u2019s decision when asked if he believed an independence referendum should proceed. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have standards and an ability for provinces to hold referenda on a variety of subjects. Obviously, we support that,\u201d Mr. Carney said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples, respecting the rights of people to privacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Carney is expected to be in Calgary on Friday for an announcement on a new deal on industrial carbon pricing. That would fulfill a key element of the energy accord the Prime Minister and Ms. Smith signed last November. <\/p>\n

The Sunday Editorial: Looking beneath the myths of Alberta separatism<\/a><\/p>\n

The deal could pave the way for a new oil pipeline to the West Coast. The two politicians have argued the agreement would show Confederation can work for Alberta.<\/p>\n

\u201cI view that very much the best place for Alberta is in Canada, and certainly, a Canada that works, which is what we\u2019re pursuing,\u201d Mr. Carney said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Asked if he was trying to build a bitumen pipeline for national unity, Mr. Carney said no.<\/p>\n

Justice Leonard\u2019s decision put immediate pressure on Ms. Smith to use the government\u2019s powers to call an independence referendum. <\/p>\n

Ms. Smith and separatist leader Mr. Sylvestre said they will appeal the decision. At a news conference on Wednesday, Ms. Smith called the decision \u201cincorrect in law and anti-democratic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A separatist supporter holds a box during a rally in front of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[164,224,238,214,212,239,17,211,230,231,227,213,210,235,171,234,143,222,249,215,216,229,225,226,219,240,111,220,244,245,247,242,246,94,243,217,142,233,113,232,241,223,236,237,228,221,218,248],"class_list":{"0":"post-45285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mark-carney","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-life-news","31":"tag-lifestyle","32":"tag-local-news","33":"tag-manitoba","34":"tag-mark-carney","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-northwest-territories","39":"tag-nova-scotia","40":"tag-nunavut","41":"tag-ontario","42":"tag-pei","43":"tag-photos","44":"tag-political-news","45":"tag-political-opinion","46":"tag-politics","47":"tag-politics-news","48":"tag-quebec","49":"tag-sports-news","50":"tag-technology","51":"tag-travel","52":"tag-trudeau","53":"tag-us-news","54":"tag-world-news","55":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45285","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=45285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}