Separatists in Alberta have submitted over 300,000 signatures to election officials in western Canada, backing their bid to hold an independence referendum in the province rich in oil.
However, their efforts faced a setback right away when a group linked to the separatist movement leaked personal information of nearly 3 million residents online, marking one of the largest data breaches in Canadian history and raising concerns about potential political interference.
On Monday, hundreds gathered in Edmonton, the capital city of the province, as Mitch Sylvestre, a leader among separatists, handed over the petitions to Elections Alberta.
“We’re not like the rest of Canada,” Sylvestre told reporters and attendees. “We’re 100% conservative. We’re being ruled by Liberals who don’t think like us.”
A small number of residents from this oil-rich region have long believed that Alberta’s issues stem from how payments are structured with Canada’s federal government and from feeling unable to get their large fossil fuel reserves into markets. Recently, separatists have taken advantage of this sentiment. Polls indicate support for separatism ranges between 18% and 30%.
Last year, Alberta’s premier Danielle Smith reduced the threshold for citizens wanting to initiate a constitutional referendum from 588,000 signatures down to around 178,000. The provincial government also changed how these citizen-led referendums work by taking power away from Alberta’s chief electoral officer. Now referendums could include questions that might conflict with Canadian constitutional law.
They aim for their question – “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be part of Canada and become an independent state?” – to be included on a planned referendum this October that will also cover topics like immigration, healthcare and changes to the constitution.
While they have gathered enough signatures for a separatist referendum, Elections Alberta states it must verify those names. However, verification has been stalled due to a court ruling.
Indigenous nations within Alberta claim that any potential vote regarding separation would violate their treaty rights established long before Alberta was formed.
“Alberta has treated [Sturgeon Lake Cree First Nation] as though they are chattel on the land, merely an afterthought in forced negotiations, not the first step in any potential secession,” said the First Nation in its court filing. “Alberta has no right to secede from Canada and no right to take Treaty No 8 territory.”
The First Nation also expressed concerns that this push opens doors for foreign influence and stated that leaving Canada “will enable foreign interference from the most powerful nation to the south.”
Towards late last year, separatist activists held secret meetings with members of Donald Trump’s administration.
Thomas Lukaszuk, former deputy premier and pro-federalist figure stated that seeking separation is “a form of treason” which “most of us Albertans and Canadians don’t stand for”.
Yet now news has broken about how a separatist-linked group accessed Alberta’s official electors list – containing names, addresses and contact details for approximately 2.9 million voters – leading to significant political turmoil across western Canada.
The list was initially given to the legally registered Republican party of Alberta but was improperly shared with Centurion Project-a pro-separation group alleged to have used it for voter targeting purposes. A court has ordered this database removed while both Elections Alberta and RCMP conduct investigations; however it is likely that copies have already circulated widely.
Among those listed were notable politicians, elections officials, senators, judges, Crown prosecutors along with journalists and other public figures.
Jared Wesley-a political scientist at University of Alberta-has called for a public inquiry saying it is necessary “before [Albertans] cast another ballot”.
He cautioned against Elections Alberta conducting self-investigations since they “are now defending its own response, its own mandate and integrity within our democratic system.”
Separatist organizations mentioned they will cooperate fully during investigations but expect plans for a referendum will move forward regardless.
“We expect our question to be on the ballot this October regardless of what the courts say or what Elections Alberta says,” Jeffrey Rath-one of their leaders-told reporters.
He noted gathering over 300k signatures took considerable effort: “All our people were out busting their asses collecting signatures. Period.”
Source link
Source link
