Judge orders temporary pause on Alberta separation referendum petition process

EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA — An Alberta judge has put up a roadblock on a petition drive looking to force a vote on the province quitting Canada.

Justice Shaina Leonard, in a written decision issued Friday granting a stay application requested by a handful of Alberta First Nations, said organizers can continue collecting signatures but the results of the petition can’t be announced or moved forward with until an overall decision is issued in the court case.

Multiple First Nations are challenging the constitutionality of Alberta’s citizen-initiated referendum process, arguing its use by separatists and the lack of government consultation with Indigenous leaders so far is a violation of treaty rights.

Lawyers for Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the Blackfoot Confederacy, as well as for the provincial and federal governments, were in court this week in Edmonton for hearings in the case.

Leonard, in her decision, said she was satisfied with the nations’ arguments that without a pause put on the process they would experience serious harm as well as continued damage to the treaty relationship between First Nations and the Crown.

She also said it’s possible that she could decide that the province has a duty to consult before petitions like this are issued.

“If this court ultimately determines (Elections Alberta’s decision to issue the petition) was unreasonable, and ought not have been made, or that provisions of (the citizen-initiated referendum process) are unconstitutional, it may be too late for those determinations to have any practical meaning,” Leonard said.

“The alleged harm is irreparable and ongoing.”

Leonard doesn’t touch on the overall arguments made by any of the parties in her decision, saying instead there “are numerous, serious issues” she’ll need to analyze first.

“The stay contemplated here would be in effect for approximately one month while this court reviews and considers the voluminous materials provided, the oral submissions heard over two days and makes a final determination,” she wrote.

Allan Adam, chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, said Friday he was pleased with the decision.

“We are standing up for our treaties, for our people and for the land that is all under threat through this referendum effort,” Adam said in a statement.

“We are doing this for all Albertans, especially children and youth, who deserve to grow up in a country that respects the rule of law and recognizes the supremacy of the Constitution.

“We shall never allow our treaties to be broken, and we will never bend the knee to foreign tyrants or their useful idiots.”

Jeff Rath, a lawyer for Stay Free Alberta, the group behind the petition campaign, said Friday the decision didn’t have much of an impact. The group’s deadline to submit their petition sheets to Elections Alberta is May 2, and Leonard’s decision says her final ruling will be issued no later than a week after that.

Still, Rath said he was surprised Leonard issued a decision so quickly, noting it happened less than 24 hours after the hearings wrapped up.

He said he expects Friday’s decision will only serve as a boost for those in the movement.

“I suspect that it’s just going to motivate our volunteer base and our canvassers and Albertans even more to get out and sign the petition,” he said.

Rath said last week that the group had already surpassed the 178,000 signatures it needs to put the question of Alberta separation on a ballot.

Premier Danielle Smith has promised if such a petition gets enough signatures, the issue would go to a vote this fall.

Friday’s decision means that once the group submits the petition, Elections Alberta can’t verify names, announce the petition results or refer it to Smith’s government to potentially call a referendum on a separation until after the judicial review and question of constitutionality is decided.

Justice Minister Mickey Amery’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Lawyers for the province, as well as Rath, had argued against the stay order this week, saying until the province acts on a referendum there is nothing it legally needs to consult on.

Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation Chief Sheldon Sunshine, whose nation had separately applied for an injunction on the petition, also welcomed the decision.

“We’re looking forward to the court’s final decision on this harmful process, set in motion by Alberta without any authority under our treaty,” he said.

“We also expect Alberta will follow this court order and not move the goal posts on us while the court deliberates.”

Rath said he thought it was possible that Smith’s government steps in, noting the province intervened the last time the movement was caught up in court when in December it changed the law for the referendum process to explicitly allow referendum questions that aren’t necessarily constitutional to be put forward through citizen petitions.

“They’ve already legislated one case out of existence because they were unhappy with what the courts were doing,” he said.

“This could be the second go-around.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2026.

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press