Opinion: How Alberta’s First Nations should respond to the referendum on secession – The Globe and Mail

Matthew Wildcat is a member of Ermineskin Cree Nation and the director of Indigenous Governance and Partnership at the University of Alberta.

The relief offered to First Nations in Alberta by Justice Shaina Leonard’s ruling almost two weeks ago, which seemed to halt the march toward a secession referendum, was joyful but brief.

The ruling found, among other things, that the Crown had a duty to consult First Nations before holding a vote on secession. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s recent announcement of a referendum to have a referendum has shown her willingness to bank her political future on threading the needle within the increasingly narrow margins offered by appeasing her separatist base while insisting on a “sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.” The vote to take place on Oct. 19 asks if “Alberta should remain a province of Canada” or if the province should start a legal process to hold a binding separation referendum.

Read More: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-alberta-first-nations-referendum-secession/