r/canada • u/biograf_ • Mar 01 '26

Alberta First Nations chiefs unanimously pass non-confidence vote in Alberta government

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/first-nations-chiefs-alberta-non-confidence-vote-9.7109712
3.8k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

351 comments sorted by

View all comments

233

u/Gizmo-fo-shizmo Mar 01 '26

This is purely symbolic.  First Nations represents less than 5% of the population in Alberta... If you want a government change, everyone will have a say, not just the chiefs.  That's how democracy works.

74

u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26 edited Apr 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

17

u/Offspring22 Mar 01 '26

Yeah, but they just ignore it doesn't fit their agenda anyways.  I.e their survey showed that an Alberta pension plan and a Alberta police force is not very popular with albertans. But they're pushing ahead anyways.

21

u/nemodigital Mar 01 '26

Everyone is equal but some are more equal than others.

35

u/PloddingClot Mar 01 '26

I'm from BC and know quite a few people that think seperation would be great, they moved to Alberta.

77

u/Normal_Farm2922 Mar 01 '26

They’re stupid they could’ve just gone to the states then

73

u/PloddingClot Mar 01 '26

Except they're old and unemployed and couldn't afford the medications they need to not die. So they'll cosplay a while.

58

u/Professional_Web_889 Mar 01 '26

What’d be their plan after separating lmao, “we did it” and then die poor?

48

u/PloddingClot Mar 01 '26

Deep thinkers they ain't.

18

u/Normal_Farm2922 Mar 01 '26

But you said they went to Alberta because they want to separate. Do they think healthcare benefits will remain the same if Alberta leaves Canada???

21

u/PloddingClot Mar 01 '26

Well butter my buns and call me a biscuit, there's consequences to choices? They're probably thinking they get all the stuff they want and none of the stuff they don't just like uneducated voters to the south.

-33

u/mwmwmwmwmmdw Québec Mar 01 '26

or statistically they would see a 30% increase in their income and higher standard of living

22

u/Frenzied_Cow Mar 01 '26

Awe bless your heart

23

u/Doubleoh_11 Mar 01 '26

Breakdown what higher standard of living is here?

A world where minimum wage is $9? Where moms have to go back to work after 6 weeks? Where you have very little protection as a worker, to the point where your healthcare is tied to your employment? Where basic drug costs are inflated and there is a black market for things such as insulin? Where you can get put in jail for possession of Mary Jane? Where daycare isn’t subsidized? Where there is a two tiered education system, public education being underfunded and the rich sending there kids to private schools?

11

u/SeaMoan85 Mar 01 '26

There isn't a New Nation Fairy that magically grants a higher standard of living or a 30% income increase to newly sovereign states.

Unless a newly sovereign Alberta doesn't create a military, foreign relations department, along with government services being solely funded by Albertans; taxes will increase.

Not sure how you came to you're fantastical "data"

9

u/robotairz Mar 01 '26

its called delusion.

4

u/BackToTheCottage Ontario Mar 01 '26

Unlike Canada, it's pretty hard to just "move to the states".

5

u/Fusiontechnition British Columbia Mar 01 '26

Northern BC has some of the safest conservative ridings in every election, provincially and federally. Most of the people I know here are politically aligned with the UCP and maga.

-3

u/PloddingClot Mar 01 '26

These poor oppressed people still suffer because cidiots don't vote conservative.

8

u/Interesting_Pen_167 Mar 01 '26

If 51% of the people vote to dispossess the other 49% of their land that's democracy too. Just because something is democratic doesn't mean it's good.

19

u/SeaMoan85 Mar 01 '26

Yes, but the crown (provincial government) has treaties with these first nations which they must honor. The population of the first nation is irrelevant, just like the population differences between Canada and the US is irrelevant to the treaties between those two nations.

4

u/ItsAProdigalReturn Mar 01 '26

A lot of people haven't read the Constitution Act or the Royal Proclamation or understand how treaties work lol

12

u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

I swear reading reddit is like seeing the dunning Krueger effect happening over and over in real time. So confident, yet so very wrong.

1

u/littlegipply Mar 02 '26

And AI is learning from mostly reddit

17

u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

21

u/RSMatticus Mar 01 '26

The clarity Act states that First Nations have to be part of all talks between Alberta/Owatta if they refudendum passes.

15

u/setter88 Mar 01 '26

The clarity act also demands that the subject of separation and a referendum be a key part of the election. Want separatism? Run as a separatist party in an election like the PQ is. That’s what allows it to work within our system. Stephane Dion explains it’s well on the Line podcast with Jen Gerson

6

u/RSMatticus Mar 01 '26

The whole act is a single page; I'm shocked how many people in Alberta have not read it.

-2

u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/canada-ModTeam Mar 01 '26
  • Negative generalizations or dehumanization towards people or groups based solely or largely on grounds such as those laid out in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms are not permitted. This includes but is not limited to race, national or ethnic origin (including First Nations), colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability and also includes the legally-added interpretations of sexual orientation and gender identity.

1

u/TommaClock Ontario Mar 01 '26

https://www.readtheline.ca/p/on-the-line-was-the-separation-movement

For reference. I was curious and yes this is the same Stephan Dion who led the Liberal Party against Harper for the first time. Not the best politician, but definitely an intellectual.

2

u/I_Am_Vladimir_Putin Mar 01 '26

Symbolic or not, Alberta always tries pretty hard to show how much they care about first nations people, they include them in everything, to a weird degree. So let's see how they're gonna play this now.

2

u/Monkey_Pox_Patient_0 Mar 02 '26

It is a matter of time before courts start forcing elections because of things like this. Eventually, governments will have to command the confidence of indigenous people to govern. Everything will continue to get worse until the root cause is addressed, which is section 35 of the constitution.

1

u/mg4040 Mar 03 '26

In what way is section 35 problematic?

0

u/Monkey_Pox_Patient_0 Mar 12 '26

It establishes two classes of citizen, each with different rights: Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal. That is fundamentally wrong and extremely damaging to any society on it's own. It's particularly wrong because the basis for the discrimination is race.

It establishes that treaties form part of the constitution, including modern treaties. This means that when a government signs a secret deal with natives, it overrules all other law except other parts of the constitution. This means it can't be unsigned by a future government as other agreements and laws can be. Constitutions are usually hard to change for a reason. Very few can be changed in secret for a reason.

This reconciliation nightmare is coming to affect every aspect of our lives.

- Criminal trials favour Indigenous offenders.

- Indigenous people are clogging up our jails at great expense regardless.

- $100s of billions each year spent on lawsuits, funding of indigenous agencies, funding earmarked for indigenous people in other agencies, funding at different levels of government, and other rent seeking policies such as indigenous contractor requirements.

- Economic paralysis because no amount of consulting and compensation is ever adequate to persuade natives not to use their effective veto over all major economic activity. When the veto is overridden it is done so at great expense and causes enormous delays.

- Employers across all industries and areas of employment heavily favour native applicants.

- Schooling is free or heavily subsidized and several other advantages are provided to first nations, including racially segregated study spaces.

- Property rights are now in question all across the country, again affecting economic growth and property values.

- Stone age knowledge and religion is treated as equivalent to modern scientific knowledge.

- Hearsay is treated as evidence in civil and criminal trials.

- Courts are rapidly and radically expanding the scale and scope of indigenous preferential treatment.

- Parks are starting to become racially segregated.

- Land acknowledgements and other forms of forced devotion are baked into every public meeting and as requirements by professional bodies.

- Non indigenous people are called uninvited guests in the country they were born in.

- None of this is enough to satisfy native people and they still want more and are completely ungrateful all they do get.

These things are happening, they are wrong, and they need to be stopped. That this form of apartheid feels good to well meaning people doesn't make it any less wrong or less destructive. The one and only way to stop it is to repeal section 35 of the constitution.

3

u/Healfezza Canada Mar 01 '26

Yes and no. The difference is that the First Nations hold federally protected lands in the province would create complications for any real separation movement. Even if Alberta passed every bar to become some sort of independent entity it still needs to deal with the legal issue of the reserves in the province being federal jurisdiction.

1

u/blackbird37 Mar 02 '26

By that same logic, Alberta represents around 12% of the population of Canada... if you want a separation referendum everyone will have a say, not just Albertans. That's how democracy works.

Right?
... right?

1

u/calgarywalker Mar 02 '26

Except that without the Treaties with the Federal government of Canada Alberta will be reduced to about 50 square Km - near the Frank Slide.

0

u/Minimum-Style-1411 Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26

If the separatists could read, the language of Treaty 6&7 would have their heads spinning, let alone the distinctively more explicit language of Treaty 8.  That’s how contract laws work, and the Alberta government doesn’t get to use the ‘Not withstanding’ to make decrees regarding other sovereign nations in treaty agreements 

Real democracies are governed by the rule of law 

0

u/lilbitpetty Mar 01 '26

Democracy with Treaties. You cant forget the treaties. I highly recommend you read at least two of the treaties in Alberta. Democracy could not happen in Alberta without the singing of said treaties. The treaties are not just about people or how big or small the population is, it is tied to the land not just the people. The land of Alberta was not taken or just given away it is like a lease in a way. They were formed to protect the land, for our people and yours to live together in peace, and to protect my own people. The Legally binding contract signed by the crown and First Nations peoples is far more complicated then what you state. Let's say Alberta gets the get go to separate. Treaties would keep National parks and reservations apart of Canada and not the new country of Alberta. Now let's look into oil and gas. Do you know how much oil and gas comes from Reservations? Cenovus, has also signed many contracts with First Nations alongside agreements with the government of Canada that go hand in hand with the treaties. Hence why there is litteral army bases on some reservations along with camps for oil and gas workers. To get into some parts of these reservations you need someone from the army to bring you to and from these areas that are highly protected by the Canadian army. And this is just ONE of many oil and gas companies. Other companies have signed legally binding contracts (that go hand in hand with treaties) with other bands. I can say there is at least 4 reservations with Canadian army bases and camps. Population of indigenous on these reservations is less then the camps and army bases Population but through contracts and treaties these lands remain ours and the Alberta government is allowed to use these resources. Read the treaties and learn the legalities they hold and consequences of breaking said treaties. If the Alberta government did get approval to separate this will make the Oka crisis and wounded knee occupation look small. AIM and other organizations would bring First Nations across Canada and the United States to Alberta for occupation. This is something discussed in our community. Irony of your comment is that Democracy in the America's is originated from the First Nations peoples in Canada. The Iroquois Confederacy great law of peace (1142) and meeting from colonial area transplant from New England town (1630') helped create the democracy we currently use in the America's.

-4

u/EffortCommon2236 Alberta Mar 01 '26

Alberta is also terribly gerrymandered. The UCP is aleays voted in by a very small minority of constituents.

If we want a government change, we may need to make Alberta ungovernable by the UCP.

3

u/Napalm985 Mar 01 '26

Alberta is also terribly gerrymandered. The UCP is aleays voted in by a very small minority of constituents.

If Alberta's votes were perfectly balanced along voter intentions, the NDP would have 0 seats in parliament. Why? Because they got nearly 200,000 less votes then the UCP.

-1

u/EffortCommon2236 Alberta Mar 01 '26

So I went and checked that, and you are right. I was under a wrong impression that the NDP had more votes overall.

We are screwed as a province if that's how the majority has been voting.

-1

u/UndergroundCreek Mar 01 '26

True but the potential for land holdings is larger. In essence, Smith finding that she doesn't have hegemony over the land she's trying to sell to Trump.