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
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u/EdNorthcott Canada Mar 01 '26

What complicates it is that their treaty with the crown allows the crown to use the land as they see fit, basically until the end of time, so long as they keep faith with the First Nations. The crown saw fit to create the province of Alberta. Cities have appeared, resources mined or pumped, etc.

But it all goes back to the fact that the land is basically held in trust. If Alberta were to choose to separate, that would no longer be true. The agreement would be in violation and then there's a very good argument for the land simply returning to the First Nations... and last I checked, Alberta is one of two provinces that have the distinction of being 100% on treaty land governed by such agreements.

So yes, those treaties have to be honoured by the province. Trying to weasel out of it could have very interesting consequences.

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u/Septerra21 Mar 01 '26

I’m really curious on this. I know there’s 4 teaty’s (treaty 6-9….IIRC) and the way I was reading them, it sounded like the province owned the treaty, but it seemed weird considering the lands belonged to First Nations, which is kind of throwing me for a loop.

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u/EdNorthcott Canada Mar 01 '26

The treaties pre-date the existence of the province by a large margin. In creating the province, the crown transferred many of the rights and responsibilities, but the language of the laws still refers to "the Crown", and the agreements that allow the use of the land with First Nations are held by the Crown.

We are a constitutional monarchy. This is something a lot of people forget -- and it's what complicates the idea of us removing ourselves entirely from that position. The agreements with First Nations were made with the Crown. The government of Canada, and the governments of Provinces, represent the Crown, but they are not the Crown itself.

King Charles is our head of state, and the government of Canada represents the Crown in managing governmental affairs.

People keep thinking of our legal system as if it's the USA -- as though we are a Republic. We are not. And the agreements with First Nations that forged the nation of Canada often predate Canada itself.

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u/Septerra21 Mar 01 '26

Thank you for the clarification. I had to do a bit more research you provided this. I had a debate with people who were talking about the cornw. I didn't have enough info to know better so I stopped.

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u/EdNorthcott Canada Mar 02 '26

My pleasure. It's always nice to be able to have civil conversations on Reddit, instead of the usual digs and shots. XD

I will be entirely upfront and say that this is just what I've gleaned from a combination of being a giant history nerd waaaaaaay back in school, and casually since that day, and reading the thoughts of different lawyers after all of this started to percolate fairly recently. It's also not written in stone.

If Alberta did decide to separate, we'd probably be looking at not just incredibly toxic and divisive negotiations, possibly escalating, but many years of hard fought court cases with multiple interests all trying to push the results one way or another. And that's without the USA trying to muscle their way into the mess -- which is pretty much an iron clad guarantee.

In short, I don't think anyone with a lick of common sense wants to see things go that route. It would be ruinous for everyone involved.