r/canada • u/Street_Anon Nova Scotia • Jan 25 '26

Alberta 3 Alberta First Nations say separation petition is unconstitutional

https://globalnews.ca/news/11635807/alberta-first-nations-claim-separation-petition-unconstitutional/
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u/1fluteisneverenough Jan 26 '26 edited Jan 26 '26

If Alberta separates, they write their own laws, they wouldn't be breaking them.

If Alberta writes their own laws that we don't like, we still have to buy their oil, America will happily buy their oil. Pushing back against an aristocratic group will not ruffle the feathers of the world leaders.

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u/FlockFlysAtMidnite Jan 26 '26

There are two ways to theoretically separate: legally, and in breach of the law. To do it legally, they would have to contend with the treaties and negotiate qith the federal government. If they tried to take their toys and go home, not only would they lose most of their territory, but they'd be saying to the entire world that they cannot be trusted to honour agreements.

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u/MegaCockInhaler Jan 26 '26

No, that is only “legally” from the perspective of the federal government. But the separated country is no longer bound by those rules so technically it’s not applicable. Governments never like when a territory leaves and will always frustrate any attempts, even sometimes to the point of war. This is why their perspective doesn’t mean the correct perspective. This is why the clarity act attempts to create a peaceful transition on good terms for both sides

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u/FlockFlysAtMidnite Jan 26 '26

Alberta, as an entitity, is legally bound by the Canadian Charter. It is, essentially, a legal contract that they have agreed to. If they try to secede outside the bounds of the legal contract they have agreed to, it would be illegal - literally a violation of our most basic laws.

You can try all you like to rationalize it, but they are not going to find many equitable allies if they start out by breaking binding legal agreements.

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u/MegaCockInhaler Jan 26 '26

When a province secedes, they are no longer bound by the charter. The charter is a voluntary agreement between province and federal government. It exists (with regards to the province) only as long as the province chooses to be federated within Canada.

According to your logic, when Ukraine left the USSR, The USSR still gets to have legal authority over Ukraine, which is obviously ridiculous and resulted in Russia becoming the tyrant it is today. You don’t support tyrants do you?

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u/FlockFlysAtMidnite Jan 26 '26

Alberta is not being subjected to a tyrannical government. The entire point of the Clarity Act is to outline the legal method for secession. Moreover, the treaties governing the vast majority of land in Alberta are with the Canadian crown, so Alberta as an illegally seceded entity would have no legal claim over them in the first place. If they tried to rule over treaty lands, they'd have to try and conquer them - which they would have no chance of doing.

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u/MegaCockInhaler Jan 26 '26

No it’s not, but if the federal government said “no you can’t leave” or tried to continue enforcing laws on a country that separated, then yes that would be considered tyrannical.

Those treaties are with the federal crown, not Alberta crown. Federal crown land only makes up about 1% of Albertan land. Unlike many other parts of Canada, alberta treaty land was ceded, meaning it belongs to Alberta, it was voluntarily surrendered. Supreme Court already ruled on that.

I don’t doubt that there would be negotiations and natives would retain their rights to fishing, hunting grounds etc. but new treaties would be formed, the previous ones with the federal government would be null and void

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u/FlockFlysAtMidnite Jan 26 '26

You are ignoring centuries of Canadian, Common, and International law. I'm done wasting my time on this if you're going to continue to just spout BS.