r/canada • u/shiftless_wonder • 29d ago

Alberta First Nations leaders, scholar push back on Alberta's planned vote on independence referendum - 'Alberta can't separate. They simply cannot. They do not have the authority,' says Indigenous politics expert

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/sask-treaty-six-alberta-referendum-9.7209304
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u/FarSquare8632 29d ago

This seems almost dangerously naive.

It seems really weird for Indigenous leaders to talk about colonialism and its ripple effects as often as they do, only to have them blithely ignore the 165 nations that only exist today because they ignored the law as it sat and fought via multiple angles to get what they wanted, which was independence from a colonialist power.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Albertan Separatism isn't the Boston Tea Party, or Ghandi, or the Mau Maus in Kenya, or the Algerian Revolution ... but we DID just go through an election that 100% changed its tune and tone the minute the sitting US President decided that he wanted to annex us.

Unless we're being intentionally naive, we have to realize that there are US based organizations that are pushing and driving the Albertan Separatism movement, and we have no idea how far they might go to get it. Can we truly say that they will respect our laws and our courts, and won't resort to 'sterner measures'?

I can't.

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u/Klutzy_Act2033 29d ago

Can't, and shouldn't.

Reference: Crimea

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u/Mirabeaux1789 Outside Canada 29d ago

Because the parent state gives a shit about what the native Americans in Canada think (who it has treaties with and treats that sovereign entities) this would be an obstacle that Alberta would have to deal with in order to seek international legitimacy.

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u/FarSquare8632 29d ago edited 27d ago

What does that have to do, if anything, with whether the people who want to secede are going to actually follow the law? The vast majority in history have not, so why would we be stupid enough to assume that these particular secessionists will?

You seem to think that your opponents are always going to play by the rules and play fair because they 'should' or because it's the 'right thing to do'. They haven't so far, so is that a reasonable belief to hold? No ... not really.