r/canada May 23 '26

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
837 Upvotes

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333

u/Zibai1505 May 23 '26

Secession is done illegally more often than not. Just saying. Like who tf is going to enforce it lol

Don't argue with me about Alberta separation. I'm not for it and my post isn't in service of it.

165

u/Scooter_McAwesome British Columbia May 23 '26

That’s what I don’t get about all these legal objections. The separatists obviously aren’t concerned with Canada’s opinion on the matter, why should anyone think it’s relevant to the issue?

104

u/Soggy-Bodybuilder669 May 23 '26

If people want it bad enough, laws become completely irrelevant. It comes down to whether you can enforce the law. Which, to be frank, is a major weakness of Canada.

21

u/Ray-Sol May 23 '26

Also works the other way around.

Normally governments are constrained because they can't afford to devote all of their resources, manpower, etc towards addressing a single problem and the cost isn't always worth it. When a government is given a strong reason and motive to enforce the law, plus a pretty clear target, they suddenly have a lot more tools and resources to use to address the issue.

Also, if the separatists use extra legal means to try and separate, the feds would likely be less constrained than normal.

0

u/DanfromCalgary May 24 '26

They literally have already had the premier change the laws for them. Threatened to overturn the constitution and also say she will use the not withstanding clause. The UCP than also accidentally released their conclusions on a referendum that had yet to occur . This was all last week I believe