Alberta Separatists Face Legal Challenge from First Nations

0:00It's April 6th, I'm Cory with the story, and this is Calgary News today, your AI-powered local news. Alberta's separatists with Stay Free Alberta just announced they hit the mark with 177,732. Signatures to push for an independence referendum. That threshold under Bill 14 could force a vote on October 19th, asking if the province should break from Canada and go solo. Now the signatures head to elections Alberta for verification, with the group having until May 2 to submit everything. If it checks out, Premier Danielle Smith's United Conservative Party government pledged to slap the question right on the ballot. But hold up, the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation near Gran Bay Prairie is throwing down a major row block with an injunction. They argue the petition violates their treaty 8 rights from 1899, since Alberta wasn't even a province back then, and they weren't. Consulted on any separation talk. The first nation suing the crown, feds, and Alberta's electoral chief, demanding the

1:01court halt the petition, scrap parts of Bill 14, and, cough up $250,000 for cost. Hearings kicked off Tuesday in Edmonton's Court of Kings bench and run through the week. Even with this pushback, odds are high for an October vote, since Smith could add it anyway, and Stay Free claims an independent Alberta would honor. Indigenous rights better. Watch for more First Nations to jump in as this legal drama unfolds.