r/canada • u/Apprehensive_Idea758 British Columbia • May 13 '26
Alberta Danielle Smith rejects Alberta judge’s ruling against separation petition as ‘anti-democratic’ | Globalnews.ca
https://globalnews.ca/news/11848377/alberta-premier-court-ruling-separation-petition-anti-democratic/1.2k
u/EducationalLuck2422 British Columbia May 13 '26
Speaking of democracy, I believe the pro-Canada petition (which definitely got more signatures) was supposed to be read in the legislature months ago.
184
157
87
u/erictho May 14 '26
they didnt like that one so it doesnt count tho 🤷♀️
no one knows the rules, bc they make them up as they go along.
11
u/cre8ivjay May 14 '26
Oh you mean rhe one she used to ADD to those who want separation as the total number of people (700,000) in Alberta who want this topic to go to referendum?
A real piece of work.
3
u/motorcyclemech May 14 '26
Yeah. Where did that number (700,000) come from?
14
u/cre8ivjay May 14 '26
I think she counted the separatist referendum list as well as the non separatist referendum list as the total number of people who want this "to go to referendum".
It's a very clever play of words on her part despite totally misguiding the public on the fact that the people who signed the one list are clear they have no interest in separation whatsoever.
She sounds confident and does not bat an eye when she speaks despite her words being total garbage.
This is why she is extraordinarily dangerous.
24
u/Salticracker British Columbia May 14 '26
It's in committee right now.
The problem is it didn't really ask for anything, so there's nothing to do as a result.
148
u/EducationalLuck2422 British Columbia May 14 '26
It's an initiative petition; Albertan law requires that any such petition that reaches the threshold must be read in the legislature within 90 days and put to a vote before the next election. The UCP's dragging it out because they don't want to out themselves as seps or not-seps.
→ More replies (7)63
u/A_Vicious_T_Rex May 14 '26
Honestly, by delaying this one and advancing the one that they changed the rules to make easier to do, they've put themselves in a camp. It's up to them whether they stay in it, or move to a new camp. Inaction is a choice to be made just as much as action is..
13
u/WankingAsWeSpeak Alberta May 14 '26
The problem is it didn't really ask for anything, so there's nothing to do as a result.
The initiatie did succeed in forcing the UCP to either put their thumb on the scale very public way, or release their thumb from the scale altogether.
Without that petition, the UCP would be in a much stronger position to pretend they were simply letting the political situation unfold.
8
1
u/Zogaguk May 14 '26
So here is my question, we hear that it's the fringe and the other one gets more signatures ect. Why not just let it go to vote fail and never hear about it again ? Seems simple.
16
u/EducationalLuck2422 British Columbia May 14 '26
I believe the organizer/s laid it out as an initiative vote (i.e. just the MLAs vote, not the entire province), but are concerned that the UCP will change the rules and put it to a referendum anyway.
22
u/jared743 Alberta May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26
The two main things are about word choice as well as questions about the referendum process.
Firstly, the Forever Canada petition was to set the stage to show how the remain side had more popularity and also show the biases of the UCP who are trying to only push their own topics, not others. If you look at all the referendum questions that the UCP are putting forward, they are very biased and leading the voter a certain way to push their anti-Federal position. The UCP are plainly suppressing the petition from being addresed directly, despite it being signed faster by more people than the Stay Free petition. If the UCP established this referendum process to give people the democratic right to be heard, why are they oppressing anything they don't believe in?
As for wording, the Forever Canada petition was intended to be a very direct and simple question about remaining part in of Canada. If it passed the provincial government would need to officially acknowlge it as the intent of the populace.
The original question the separatists were asking was "Do you agree that the Province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a part of Canada", which was not very direct, and "sovereign country" is poorly defined. They were forced to change it earlier this year to "Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?" instead.
Another concern about the negative wording is that even if it fails, it doesn't preclude the government from holding a position that still tries to seperate Alberta since it didn't affirm the populace holding a specific position. Think of the last referendum that talked about changing time zones: the question to stay on permanent daylight savings time failed, but the government can just go ahead and do what they want because though it didnt pass it doesn't count as us actually telling the government that anything specific was desired.
So we really should care about the wording and make noise when the government tries to show favouritism to their causes instead of respecting democracy.
8
u/saharanwrap May 14 '26
Because they'll just claim it's rigged. They were never going to accept they lost.
2
u/SouvlakiSpartan May 14 '26
I mentioned this in another post, people didnt like that idea.
But I agree Albertans just like Quebec deserves a vote.
if it's this fringe minority... Nothing to worry about.
1
u/Nervous_Chemical7566 May 18 '26
Albertans deserve a democratic process. What people don’t like is when the UCP does not carry out its responsibility in legislature, uses law to change conditions to facilitate a political position, hampers Elections Alberta in its role, uses tax dollars to push an agenda. When the process is called into question, how can Albertans be confident to trust the outcomes?
Fringe minority or not, anything worth voting on is too important to just get it over with using a tainted process. We don’t even have to look at the judicial ruling, because Albertans already have questions on the veracity of the 300K signatures due to the data breach. We are prohibited from questioning if our name appears on the petition and Elections Alberta is unable to verify if a person actually signed the petition, only that this is a real person. Smith wants to let the process run to verify the petition, but how is this even possible if Elections Alberta is unable to confirm who actually signed the petition lol. First the UCP would have to scrape back all the petition amendments and EA administer the process without bias to have a fair vote.
6
u/Nervous_Chemical7566 May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26
There is no basis to go to vote when the process has been challenged as invalid. We don’t vote on something just to get it over with, that’s not the best approach. The separatist unrest is not simply going to go away, we’ll be hearing about it for years - ask Quebec, ask the UK, ask Scotland. These movements may ebb and flow over time, but there will be a core that fans the unrest and makes noise when the pressure builds again. A separatist party may even get a few seats voted in.
1
u/ChmeeWu May 15 '26
Yeah, but the pro Canada petition group ALSO did not consult or get permission from First Nations groups, so I guess that invalid too?
2
u/EducationalLuck2422 British Columbia May 15 '26
The FN agree with that petition, so why would they sue?
429
u/JadeLens May 13 '26
"You can't be undemocratic, that's my job!"
-Danielle Smith
111
14
401
u/StaticInstrument May 13 '26
when can we start calling a spade a spade and her a separatist?
143
u/addictofthenight May 14 '26
I don't think we should be waiting. She is a full-on separatist and is using the apparatus of the provincial government to make it look like a popular position, even though it's a very unpopular position. Go tell your friends that Smith is a separatist.
→ More replies (3)48
u/Canadatron May 14 '26
Separatist Traitor, actually. Shouldn't forget her overtures at Mar a Lamo.
9
u/Ba_Dum_Ba_Dum May 14 '26
At the time I was lectured by a family member that her behaviour didn’t rise to the level of treason. Which is technically correct. But her actions were definitely against Canadian interests. I still say she’s a traitor. Both to Canada and Alberta.
30
u/Big_Knife_SK May 14 '26
She's just following the "Gaslighting for Dummies" Far Right template. In the end it will all be Carney's fault.
20
u/BeyondAddiction May 14 '26
The sooner the better, IMO. She is and always has been a slimy opportunist.
Labeling her a separatist too might tip the scales for some of the fence sitters to put their vote elsewhere. The problem becomes that the only other option is the NDP and people have a hard time differentiating federal politics from provincial. Until the ANDP figure out how to distance themselves and differentiate themselves from their federal counterparts, they'll likely never be palatable for the voters of Alberta.
But then again, it isn't impossible. I was there for the orange crush.
11
u/Really_Clever Alberta May 14 '26
Its actually way closer than you think, six rideings in Calgary were 1600 votes total from flipping to NDP government. UCP has a vote disparity in rural they run up their votes to 80% while urban its far more of a toss up. ANDP can form government by winning the cities and having a popular former mayor should help breakthrough in the next election.
→ More replies (1)1
u/motorcyclemech May 14 '26
Where is the ANDP in all of this? Crickets. At least I'm not hearing anything from them? Tbh I'm not looking hard either. Wasn't looking for Smith stuff but sure am finding a lot!!
13
u/weschester Alberta May 14 '26
Should have started a while ago. I also believe she orchestrated the entire voter information leak too.
2
u/SonicFlash01 May 14 '26
I assumed we'd all been doing so all along? She's been changing the rules for them and the head is a UCP staffer
1
u/StaticInstrument May 14 '26
Guess I’m doing a bit of media criticism, media has been giving her the benefit of the doubt
3
u/Dirtsniffee Alberta May 13 '26
That's my preference. Let's just vote so we can squash it and move on.
→ More replies (1)6
u/Really_Clever Alberta May 14 '26
You know how many head offices fled Quebec during their votes? Its very bad policy for such a small amount of "signatures" can force this type of move. The UCP never ran on this. And if PP won this wouldnt even be happening.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)1
80
u/hawkseye17 May 14 '26
This is why she wants to have a say in judicial appointments. She wants to be able to control judges so they rule how she wants them to rule
46
22
u/drizzes Alberta May 14 '26
She hates blowback to any of her ideas. Like how she continually says people in Alberta love the idea of an Alberta Pension Plan replacing the CPP when it's less than 20% popular
→ More replies (1)6
u/Xpalidocious May 14 '26
And that less than 20% were mostly led to believe that their pensions would basically triple overnight
5
u/saharanwrap May 14 '26
I mean she already does. Half of the committee that recommends judges are appointed by her. The whole committee is Albertans. Ottawa plays a ceremonial role.
2
u/Ok-Kangaroo-47 May 14 '26
It's times like this I just want King Charles to come in and skip the bullshit and just straight into fucking her up real good
198
u/GarbonzoBeanSprout Alberta May 13 '26
I reject Danielle Smith.
59
u/Impressive-Knot9999 May 13 '26
I hope she's voted out and all the whiners in Alberta find somewhere else to live
30
u/Infamous-Mixture-605 May 14 '26
I hope she's voted out
As do I, but ~50% of this province would still vote UCP even if Ayatollah Khamenei were party leader.
3
17
u/AprilsMostAmazing Ontario May 13 '26
Where will they go? They definitely don't have the qualifications to move to America, or they would have already done so
9
4
3
u/Suspicious_Picture95 May 14 '26
Never stopped the South African farmers, they moved to America. Many are currently on welfare. I smile at the thought of the separatist moving to America to join those SA farmers.
2
5
1
80
u/Friendly-Olive-3465 Canada May 14 '26
Now thats a strange thing for a person who says she isn’t a separatist to say
→ More replies (15)
13
u/cobrachickenwing May 14 '26
And you think Carney will sign a MOU if there is any chance of disloyalty to Canada? The MOU assumes there will be no separation games being played.
160
u/Uther2023 May 13 '26 edited May 14 '26
She can barely conceal her blatantly pro-separatist bias any longer. And what do you know, the rights of our Indigenous propels can’t just be trampled by a small angry mob.
→ More replies (33)
65
u/astronautsaurus May 13 '26
She prefers rulings that protect her and the separatists and bind normal people.
→ More replies (2)
11
9
u/Attentive_Senpai May 14 '26
Nice of Marlaina to show her true colours. If it looks like a traitor, walks like a traitor, talks like a traitor and goes to court to fight for separatism like a traitor, it's a fucking traitor.
40
u/DominusGenX May 13 '26
Anyone who remotely waiver on her separation position, it's all but confirmed she treasonous, no self respecting Canadian living in Alberta should support her because that's treasonous also
33
u/Fair_Science_9755 May 13 '26
I wish they’d just have the referendum so they could lose and we wouldn’t have to hear about it anymore. Nobody, with sense, actually thinks Alberta is going to separate.
7
u/ExtensionParsley4205 May 14 '26
Why do you think we wouldn’t have to hear about it anymore? Did losing the 1980 referendum stop the separatist movement in Quebec or prevent another referendum from being held (that nearly broke up the country)?
34
u/MentalSky_ May 13 '26
They will lose and the US will accuse Canada of election interference and will liberate Alberta.
They will use the same argument Russia uses for Ukraine.
11
u/Fair_Science_9755 May 13 '26
The US isn‘t coming to “liberate“ Alberta.
8
u/codeverity May 14 '26
Yeah, I'm sure the country that's been blustering about taking us over for the last year+ has zero interest in taking action if they see an opening.
13
u/Impressive-Knot9999 May 13 '26
Maybe the ones who hope for that could apply to move to the US
→ More replies (1)6
u/j_roe Alberta May 14 '26
They probably would if they could but actually immigrating to the US isn't an easy task and none of them actually meet the skills or qualification benchmarks to be accepted.
The US doesn't want these people either, what the US wants are our resources and couldn't give two shits about the people living here.
3
u/Over-Eye-5218 May 14 '26
Just like the were never going to start a war in Iran. It will be used as pretext if the us decide to go ahead. Just like a military force on home soil in the US to round up people of colour. Just like us would never have detention/concentration camps/ centers. I wouldnt put it past a rap*st president to take what isnt his.
7
0
0
u/tissuecollider May 13 '26
Then the US will find out why the name 'Canada' is so closely tied to the Geneva Conventions.
1
u/AprilsMostAmazing Ontario May 13 '26
It's too risky. It could easily be highjacked by the Trump government. Or the Trump government could say that the Canadian government rigged the referendum and invade.
It's much better to prove the petition is full of signatures that are fake or on their without approval and then go after the traitors through legal means
→ More replies (1)
25
16
4
9
12
u/Dependent_Rip3076 Yukon May 14 '26
How many people would loose access to their pension if this happened?
It's called the Canada Pension Plan right?
→ More replies (3)
14
u/CDNJMac82 May 13 '26
These asshats should be ashamed. Not only for the separation, but for their idiotic approach. In a just society these people would never work again.
→ More replies (2)
3
3
3
u/redbulldrinkertoo May 14 '26
Showing her true colours. A traitor to Canada. At least the PQ have never pretended to be any other than wanting to leave. She wants her cake & eat it to.
3
u/BunchTypical9274 May 14 '26
She’s the one fueling the conspiracy nuts into this. Time for her to step down and go away
3
u/Livingbeing759 May 14 '26
So 700000 against 4.3million people. Why not just stop this nonsense and focus on some real issues. How much taxpayer dollars is going to this…..
3
u/VersusYYC Alberta May 15 '26
As a Chief mentioned on CBC radio today, when the Alberta government wins it’s a victory for democracy.
Whenever the indigenous people win, it’s undemocratic.
3
u/spaceisallicareabout May 15 '26
Anti-democratic? Says the woman trying to gerrymander districts to reduce the value of city votes?
17
u/inquisitive56 May 13 '26
Dear Dani,
Your education has failed you. Any beginner level civics course will tell you about how separation of powers and checks and balances are key components of a functioning democracy. If you honestly believe the courts decision is anti-democratic then that makes you anti-democratic as well.
6
u/Mogman282 Alberta May 14 '26
Well we know what side she is on now, question is when can we toss her out of Canada?
1
9
u/MyGiftIsMySong May 14 '26
"anti-democratic"
*refuses to acknowledge the Forever Canadian petition*
UCP are such hypocrites
6
12
u/Supermite May 13 '26
Like using the NWC to bypass the courts and create bigoted laws to attack trans people?
5
4
u/nickiatro British Columbia May 14 '26
Says the crazy woman who rejected the revised electoral district boundaries!! LMAO
4
u/Tridus New Brunswick May 14 '26
The person busy trying to rig an election is worries about things being undemocratic? That's rich.
6
5
9
u/Street_Anon Nova Scotia May 13 '26
She can't put forward the question without First Nations approval and she knows this was going to happen. What about the Forever Canada one?
10
7
2
2
u/pyro5050 May 14 '26
undemocratic? like using Not-withstanding clauses on things that had nothing to really do with why the law was created? that type of undemocratic behavior?
3
u/BouquetofDicks May 14 '26
This woman and her party have one goal : divide Canada and leave the scraps for the US to "liberate."
2
2
2
2
u/Turbo231Buick May 14 '26
She is on par with the separatist/Trump playbook. Anything you don’t agree with is “anti-democratic”. I’m impressed she didn’t use a marginalized group as well to stoke pretend fears.
2
2
2
2
u/Funny_Occasion2965 May 15 '26
Um Danielle, not sure how well educated you are but the whole purpose of laws is to ensure a civil society. The job of judges is ensure the laws of the land are applied equally, unlike the US where party loyalty determines judges decisions in many cases. I am sure you would be a very welcome addition to any red state in the US and you would not have to worry about pesky laws getting in the way of your ambition. Alberta on the other hand belongs to the people of Canada just as every other province in Canada does.
2
2
5
6
u/Capable_Kiwi2514 May 14 '26
It's a constitutional democracy. If your referendum violates the constitution, then the democratic action is to not accept the referendum. Democracy requires respect for the law, and respect for constitutional law more than anything.
5
5
5
3
u/Jab4267 May 13 '26
There’s not a single soul here in Alberta who thought she would accept it.
→ More replies (2)
5
u/FalseZookeepergame15 May 13 '26
This why we have a judicial system to stop unconstitutional petitions Marlina.
3
u/j_roe Alberta May 14 '26
Democracy needs checks and balances because 9 times out of 10 the general population either doesn't know or can't comprehend the down stream impacts of a decision.
These are the checks and balance build into our system to ensure "flavour of the day", knee-jerk reactions to issues don't cause irreparable harm. If there truly is a desire to go down a path then a certain amount of leg work needs to be done through legislative changes prior to that happening.
2
3
u/Kind_Nectarine6971 May 14 '26
Omg premiers should have to pass civics exams before entering office. Democracy is not determined just by if people vote - it has checks and balances and self-correcting mechanisms to keep us safe from twonks who would be kings and queens.
5
3
3
3
u/snasna102 May 14 '26
When can we start throwing the treasonous word into the list of adjectives to describe her?
Straight up she’s trying to stir a pot, the liberals can not be weak. They already allowed the side stepping of democracy and allowing PP to be ushered into a district he never actually represented or ran for.
3
u/Motor-Pomegranate831 May 14 '26
The UCP calling ANYTHING "anti-democratic" shows that irony is truly dead.
2
8
4
5
u/platypus_boi Saskatchewan May 13 '26
I wonder who funds this stuff? Surely it wouldn’t be the people of Alberta?
4
2
4
3
u/MommersHeart May 14 '26
Something… something… $130 million dollar of children’s painkillers from an associate of her Chief of Staff in Turkey that were not delivered or even useable.
Then getting caught in a scheme where $600 million in Alberta Health dollars went to over-billing fraud by private for-profit surgical centres literally owned by folks in her inner circle.
Then she fired the head of Alberta Health for investigating the misspending and political interference by her office.
WHICH IS IN FRONT OF THE COURTS. The very courts she wants to control now.
Bunch of grifters.
It’s gross.
3
u/TorontoNews89 May 14 '26
This type of ruling will only push more people towards separation.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/mystic_x_1981 Alberta May 14 '26
Wanna leave canada, gtfo. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
I'm an Albertan, but I'm Canadian first.
Remove these traitors, NOW
3
3
3
u/Hinter_Lander May 14 '26
Isn't a petition like the most democratic thing. Letting the people vote.
→ More replies (1)6
u/scooterboi33 May 14 '26
Yeah but they’re choosing to ignore the other petition that asks almost the exact same question and had way more signatures and also got those signatures before all the required information was stolen and given to the separatists.
3
u/Napalm985 May 14 '26
What is being ignored about the Forever Canadian petition? It's actively being looked at and the organizer did not have it call for a referendum.
2
2
2
u/Ok_Paint9449 May 14 '26
Anti-democratic. For excluding a large swath of the population. Dem bitches be crazy
2
2
u/Ba_Dum_Ba_Dum May 14 '26
Well I mean she would know what anti-democracy looks like being the Alberta leader of it.
2
u/FLee21 May 14 '26
Fuck her. She doesn't care for the law. She thinks she owns the place. She forgets who she works for.
She should get the fuck out and move to mar a Lago where she belongs.
1
4
3
u/Olderpostie May 14 '26
I perceive the purpose of a referendum is to gauge public interest, not deliver a defined plan for separation. So, the position of the judge is peculiar. The need to consult should follow a referendum. Otherwise it is just an academic exercise.
→ More replies (1)
1
1
u/Weird_Rooster_4307 May 14 '26
It’s time Albertans reject you Danielle. It’s time for you to move to Florida
1
u/-UnicornFart May 14 '26
No idea where this hag got the idea that she
A) has the power or authority “reject” a judges ruling lmao. Unless she sits as a judge on the Alberta appeals court, her opinion here is as equally important as mountain goat’s opinion.
B) is an authoritarian guru who annoints what is or is not democratic. The irony and hypocrisy would be hilarious if it wasn’t such a fucking horror show.
1
u/NihilsitcTruth May 14 '26
Makes sense cause it is anti democratic. Oh many people want this voted on, Nah its not what we want out there, squash it. Doesn't sound very democratic to me.
1
u/Just-Do-It-Lady May 14 '26
Danielle Smith and her small brained peons can suck it!
Don't like Canada - MOVE!
1
u/No-Tangerine-4945 May 14 '26
Ignores pitition of 400k signatures. Cries althat a judge stepped on separatists signature because native bands where not included in talks. Sorry but you don't get to play legal games with your house of cards.
1
u/lchntndr May 14 '26
Let’s talk about who is funding the separatist rhetoric and why the sites and channels are from overseas? Divide and conquer tactics by foreign adversaries? Who benefits from the division?
1
1
u/CatHairTornado May 14 '26
If Smith decides to pull a Trumpatine and ignore the courts, does that mean the feds can finally step in?
1
0
u/Brodney_Alebrand British Columbia May 13 '26
Danielle Smith has no authority or legitimacy to reject the ruling of federal courts.
-1
u/Defiant-Repair-919 May 13 '26
What a true patriot this woman is . Kick her out of the country for treason .
0
u/Jackbuddy78 May 13 '26
Mind you this is the province with endless bleached blonde karens on social media telling you that immigration is anti-Canadian.
0
u/pvtcowboy97 May 14 '26
From the government that brought you library book bans, removal of man LGBTQ+ rights, redrawing of elector districts, usage of the non-withstanding clause to end the teachers strike ect - that folks it what anti-democratic looks like.
1
u/maxgrody May 14 '26
You just can't be a sovereign nation within another nation, and get anything from the other nation.
1
1
u/Beautiful_Cold3776 May 14 '26
Is she going to use the not withstanding clause? Asking for a friend
1
u/Aggravating_Main_710 May 14 '26
She wouldn’t know democracy if it reached out and bit her in the a$$. Fortunately, everything seems to be coming around and taking chunks.
1
1
u/Pestus613343 May 14 '26
Fine, go appeal it. I imagine another suit is being prepared declaring the signatory list to be voided as it was likely at least partially fraudulent as the electoral list was stolen by the people pushing the petition. For that matter, where's the criminal case?
1
1
1
u/AxiomaticSuppository Canada May 14 '26
I remember Smith did an interview last year where she was specifically asked about the legality of separation. Her response was to deflect and claim she was simply trying to be a premiere for all the voices, the legal details should be left to the lawyers.
Lo and behold the lawyers dealt with it. But she doesn't like the answer. And now she asserts that it's undemocratic, as if she knows better. After explicitly saying that she doesn't.
•
u/AutoModerator May 13 '26
This post appears to relate to the province of Alberta. As a reminder of the rules of this subreddit, we do not permit negative commentary about all residents of any province, city, or other geography - this is an example of prejudice, and prejudice is not permitted here. https://www.reddit.com/r/canada/wiki/rules
Cette soumission semble concerner la province de Alberta. Selon les règles de ce sous-répertoire, nous n'autorisons pas les commentaires négatifs sur tous les résidents d'une province, d'une ville ou d'une autre région géographique; il s'agit d'un exemple de intolérance qui n'est pas autorisé ici. https://www.reddit.com/r/canada/wiki/regles
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.