Ahead of Monday’s vote, the Calgary Journal spoke with a Treaty 8 grand chief and an expert on the Crown’s constitutional rights of Indigenous people about why even speaking of separation in Alberta clashes with treaties signed with the Crown.
Treaties 6, 7, and 8 — which cover most of Alberta — were signed with the British Crown and the federal government 23 years before the province of Alberta was created in 1905.
Robert Hamilton, an associate professor at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law and constitutional expert on the history of the Crown and Indigenous relations, said these signed agreements are legally recognized in the Constitution Act, 1982.
“They constitute a promise on the part of the Crown to protect the Indigenous way of life associated with their traditional use and access to resources,” he said.
These rights include protected rights to hunting, fishing, the rights to education and the provision of medicines.
Current discussions around a potential future secession of Alberta from Canada could have significant implications for treaty rights.
“The rest of Canada would have to engage in secession negotiations that consider Indigenous rights and territorial claims, while recognizing existing treaty obligations within potentially new political or constitutional arrangements,” said Hamilton
According to the Constitution, federal obligations to land rights treaties in Canada are legally binding, protected under section 35.
Treaty rights and provincial governance
Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi of Treaty 8 First Nations worries that a potential separation could mean the province would take on federal obligations, which have always been a fundamental responsibility of the Crown.
“When we’re talking about separation here, it’s a lot more to do with our rights as to who we are as people, and the land that it’s tied to,” he said. “We already have issues with programs that are funded through the province that are meant to serve our people. There’s a lack of accountability, transparency, process, and outcomes.”
Many Indigenous communities throughout Alberta have expressed similar concerns. Recent reporting from CBC found a general sense of “being under attack,” while others expressed “concerns about how the separatists movement has been handled.”
“We don’t see any value to separation today. Their complaints were made up–they rely on the federal government for social services that are provided through the province,” said Chief Mercredi. “Whether they like to believe those things or not, they have to come to terms with what grievances they want before any movement can be made.”
An overwhelming number of First Nations in Alberta have been vocal against separation, with legal challenges introduced by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, the Blackfoot Confederacy and others against the referendum question.