John Bolton - December 05, 2025


INDEPENDENCE Alert： Alberta’s REFERENDUM Path Heats Up - One step closer？


Episode Stats


Length

11 minutes

Words per minute

195.2019

Word count

2,243

Sentence count

173


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode, John talks about why he chose to move to Alberta and why he thinks it's the best place in the whole country to be. He also talks about a new bill that could lead to a referendum on Alberta separation from Canada.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 Hi, it's John, and welcome to the channel, 20 minutes before 5, Friday, December the
00:00:07.920 5th.
00:00:08.160 I hope you're having a great start to your Friday morning, 20 sleeps until Santa.
00:00:12.520 I've got my big blue mug of coffee with me.
00:00:14.860 Hope you're having a great day today.
00:00:17.500 And I lived in Ontario a majority of my life.
00:00:20.500 You know, it's hard to believe.
00:00:21.520 My wife said the other day, we've been here 13 years in Calgary, in Alberta.
00:00:27.020 It's the best move I ever made.
00:00:28.980 I would never move back to Ontario again.
00:00:32.480 I lived in Ontario a majority of my life.
00:00:35.280 People say to me, what do you like about Alberta?
00:00:37.080 Well, it's a completely different place.
00:00:39.040 We are a distinct society out here.
00:00:42.060 People say, what's the best part?
00:00:43.560 I say, the mountains.
00:00:44.840 I'm a cyclist.
00:00:46.660 You know, ripping down a mountain on a bicycle going more than 90 kilometers an hour is absolutely
00:00:51.420 thrilling.
00:00:52.400 Falling down on your bike like I did in the summertime is not all that great.
00:00:56.740 But sometimes those things happen.
00:00:58.340 And what do I miss about Ontario?
00:00:59.620 I guess the water.
00:01:00.520 I mean, I grew up living in Sarnia, Ontario, right on Lake Huron.
00:01:05.440 And I lived on the St. Lawrence River for 20 years in eastern Ontario, in Cornwall, Ontario.
00:01:12.080 And I've always been near water.
00:01:13.540 Not a lot of water in Alberta.
00:01:14.820 That's the thing you really learn quickly.
00:01:16.640 It's so dry out here.
00:01:17.560 But what's interesting is that when it comes to politics, there's nothing quite like Alberta.
00:01:24.080 And I dealt with a lot of politics when I was in Ontario.
00:01:26.840 I was a radio broadcaster.
00:01:28.920 And I did a lot of jobs over the years.
00:01:30.880 My favorite was doing a morning program called John Bolton's Cornwall Today, where I got to
00:01:35.520 talk about politics a lot.
00:01:37.500 And I talked to a lot of different people.
00:01:40.140 I said, you know, I've spoken to Stephen Harper, and I spoke to Jack Layton when he's still
00:01:43.320 around, and Elizabeth May, and Justin Trudeau, and Dalton McGinty, and on and on and on.
00:01:47.120 It was great.
00:01:48.060 But there's nothing quite like Alberta politics.
00:01:50.580 Every second, there's something new happening.
00:01:53.240 It's hard to keep up at times.
00:01:54.860 So, when I saw this article this morning, and when this happened, I went, whoa, there's
00:01:59.980 a big change when it comes to the independence movement and how we may be moving forward with
00:02:04.780 a vote out here in Alberta.
00:02:06.060 There's this article from the CBC.
00:02:08.220 Alberta legislation would change citizen referendum rules.
00:02:11.820 If Bill 14 is passed, only the minister would be able to refer a citizen referendum question
00:02:17.180 to the court.
00:02:17.820 So, to save me a couple of words, I'll go over to this, and it kind of explains what's
00:02:23.960 going on here, and then we will come back, and we will discuss.
00:02:28.740 How many of all of us favour a free and independent Alberta?
00:02:35.880 Raise your hands.
00:02:37.120 Stand up.
00:02:37.900 Less than a week after that rallying cry and support at the United Conservative Party AGM,
00:02:43.240 the government is changing the law to keep the door open for a referendum on Alberta separation.
00:02:49.360 A new bill in the legislature by Justice Minister Mickey Amory would make it so any
00:02:53.760 citizen initiative proposal can't violate the constitution, go above provincial jurisdiction,
00:02:59.600 and be similar to another petition.
00:03:02.040 But who decides this will not be a judge in a court of law?
00:03:05.920 Instead, the justice minister.
00:03:08.480 Whether I like the question or not, whether I agree with the question or not, is completely
00:03:12.960 irrelevant.
00:03:13.360 And so, when you say that I'm clearing the way, I'm clearing the way for all Albertans.
00:03:18.220 I'm clearing the way for anybody from any political stripe or any ideology or any position
00:03:23.600 to be able to put that question to Albertans.
00:03:26.220 Amory not revealing what he would decide on a separation referendum, but says the bill would
00:03:31.280 kill the ongoing court case involving the Alberta Prosperity Project.
00:03:35.420 They are hoping to ask voters if Alberta should be a sovereign country and cease to be a province
00:03:40.260 in Canada.
00:03:41.280 Amory says the group could file another petition within a month.
00:03:44.860 The minister would also have to decide if the separatist question is too close to the already
00:03:49.680 completed Forever Canada petition.
00:03:52.240 This is quite the development.
00:03:54.780 And you saw Jeff Rath at the beginning of that clip.
00:03:57.540 That was at the annual general meeting for the United Conservative Party just a week ago.
00:04:03.840 Jeff stole the show.
00:04:04.820 I sent him a text message.
00:04:05.920 He stole the show last week.
00:04:07.180 There were some good things announced by the premier.
00:04:09.800 She got booed when she talked about the memorandum of understanding with Carney and the Liberal
00:04:14.540 Party.
00:04:15.460 But she announced some really good things last week.
00:04:17.400 But Jeff stole the show.
00:04:18.240 That was right at the beginning.
00:04:19.200 And people were talking about it all weekend.
00:04:22.160 Jeff is in court today.
00:04:24.320 He's addressing what he was in court about a couple of weeks ago.
00:04:27.980 We talked to Jeff about that.
00:04:29.940 And of course, there are First Nations that are concerned that the question that the Alberta
00:04:33.600 Prosperity Project has for Alberta to leave the country might be an infringement of their
00:04:38.240 treaty rights.
00:04:38.940 And Jeff is arguing the opposite there.
00:04:40.640 That he doesn't believe that is the case.
00:04:42.500 I sent Jeff a text message this morning.
00:04:44.220 And as soon as I sent these messages, I thought, oh, Christ, John, I hope he has his phone on.
00:04:48.820 Do not disturb.
00:04:50.200 You can see where I sent these two messages at 4.10 and 4.12 a.m.
00:04:53.540 I asked him if he had a few minutes to discuss the article below, which is one we're going to talk
00:04:58.060 about in just a second.
00:04:58.960 And then I said, I know you're in court today, maybe after you get things wrapped up.
00:05:02.620 So let's take a look at this article a little bit more.
00:05:04.980 And it really does put an interesting twist on what's going on right now.
00:05:09.160 So a little bit on this article.
00:05:10.540 The provincial government is proposing sweeping changes to citizen-led referendum questions
00:05:14.900 that could put a stop to an active court case.
00:05:17.360 The one, Jeff, is in court today.
00:05:18.780 I'm going to watch it today to see how this is addressed.
00:05:21.380 It's going to be fascinating.
00:05:22.600 Unfortunately, you cannot record these court cases, so I can't have any video, just to let you know.
00:05:26.760 It could put a stop to an active court case about whether it's constitutional to ask Albertans
00:05:32.680 if they agree with separating from Canada.
00:05:34.760 Bill 14, introduced Thursday by Justice Minister Mickey Amory, transfers power from the chief
00:05:39.740 electoral officer to the minister when deciding whether citizen petition initiatives should
00:05:44.400 proceed.
00:05:45.280 It also includes an amendment to discontinue any court proceeding brought by the chief electoral
00:05:49.680 officer.
00:05:50.260 That's Gordon McClure, who has brought this court case that Jeff is arguing in court.
00:05:54.480 But it's basically the chief electoral officer versus Mitch Sylvester, who is the CEO of the
00:06:01.180 Alberta Prosperity Project.
00:06:03.080 The legislation comes just weeks after court of King's bench Justin Colin Feasby heard arguments
00:06:08.220 about a question that the chief electoral officer, Gordon McClure, referred to the courts seeking
00:06:12.000 an opinion on its constitutionality.
00:06:14.260 The judge's decision is supposed to be issued in the coming weeks.
00:06:17.320 Amory said the changes are about creating a permissive environment for Albertans trying to bring
00:06:21.800 referendum questions.
00:06:22.700 He said the court case currently underway may or may not continue.
00:06:28.440 If Bill 14 is passed, only the minister would be able to refer a citizen referendum question
00:06:33.020 to the courts.
00:06:33.920 That power currently rests with the chief electoral officer.
00:06:37.420 The NDPs say they'll fiercely object the legislation.
00:06:40.500 There's more to this, including not using a similar word in a party name.
00:06:44.860 So you've got the United Conservative Party.
00:06:46.320 There are a group of independent MLAs right now who sit in the Alberta legislature who are trying to
00:06:51.260 revive the progressive conservative party.
00:06:54.560 So it would do that as well.
00:06:56.000 But we'll move on to what we're really talking about here is independence.
00:06:59.500 Lawyer Jeffrey Rath is representing Alberta Prosperity Project executive Mitch Sylvester,
00:07:04.260 who's behind the potential referendum question that would ask Albertans whether they agree
00:07:08.100 the province shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province in Canada.
00:07:12.360 Rath said in an interview that he believes the province is interfering in the current court case.
00:07:17.860 Quote,
00:07:18.600 I think they're afraid we're going to win and we're going to get a court saying that what we're doing
00:07:22.860 is perfectly fine and constitutional.
00:07:25.000 Unquote, he said.
00:07:26.960 Lawyers involved in the case are due in court a final time Friday and then they'll wait for a decision.
00:07:31.240 The bill isn't passed until the bill is passed, Rath said.
00:07:35.340 Until the legislature says we don't have a court case, we still have a court case.
00:07:39.660 Again, it's going to be interesting to see how this is addressed today, if it is at all.
00:07:43.560 The Alberta Prosperity Project issued a statement Thursday evening calling Bill 14
00:07:47.300 an unintended gift to pro-independence Albertans that will remove the red tape
00:07:52.040 that has stalled progress on its referendum question.
00:07:55.940 Any citizen initiative petition that hasn't been issued by the time the amendments take effect
00:08:00.480 will be quashed, but Bill 14 allows the applicants to resubmit within 30 days
00:08:05.280 without paying another fee.
00:08:07.400 So some interesting comments there.
00:08:09.600 I don't know whether you can consider them conflicting, but Jeff Rath saying he thinks
00:08:13.820 the government's afraid that they're going to win in court and say that what they're doing
00:08:18.880 is perfectly fine and constitutional.
00:08:20.900 Moving us to the next part of this process, which would be signatures on a petition.
00:08:26.340 It doesn't say in the story that that has to happen.
00:08:28.320 I'm going to get to that in just a moment.
00:08:29.880 Then you've got the Alberta Prosperity Project saying this is a gift to pro-independence Albertans
00:08:34.400 because it will remove red tape.
00:08:36.800 And I think the red tape they're talking about is the fact that Mickey Amory, the justice minister,
00:08:40.480 would be able to make a decision on this.
00:08:42.620 And I think they're putting their money on him saying, yeah, you can move forward with
00:08:45.860 the signature signing process.
00:08:47.780 Not a lawyer.
00:08:48.720 That's why I want to see if I can get Jeff on here.
00:08:50.680 I did go over to the legislation, Alberta.ca.
00:08:53.860 Bill 14 introduced on December 4th, 2025, Responsible Justice.
00:08:58.420 That's the ministry responsible.
00:09:00.220 This is under Citizen Initiative Act.
00:09:01.860 I'll go through this quickly.
00:09:03.420 Empower the minister to determine whether an application is the same or substantially similar
00:09:07.520 to a proposal that within the last five years was the subject of an unsuccessful referendum
00:09:13.080 or initiative vote.
00:09:14.840 This addresses the fact that if you have a vote on a specific question, you can't have
00:09:19.600 another one within five years.
00:09:21.060 You've got the Forever Canadian thing hanging out there right now.
00:09:23.820 Some people saying if the Forever Canadian referendum question goes forward, the APP can't
00:09:29.140 put their question forward because they're the same.
00:09:31.880 Now, we've heard Mitch Sylvester, Dennis Modry, Jeff Rath, and others say they're not the
00:09:35.440 same question.
00:09:36.100 It would be up to the justice minister to make that determination, I'm thinking, because
00:09:39.300 of this.
00:09:40.380 Empower the minister of justice instead of the chief electoral officer to refer questions
00:09:44.440 to the court.
00:09:46.040 Right now, Gordon McClure, the CEO, has referred this question to the court.
00:09:51.320 That's why Jeff Rath is back in court today.
00:09:53.400 Discontinue any court proceeding.
00:09:55.320 So this court proceeding today would come to an end if this legislation passes.
00:10:00.040 Deem applicants to have never been made if they were submitted before the amendments
00:10:03.100 come into force.
00:10:04.440 And allow the applicants to resubmit within 30 days.
00:10:06.960 And this down here basically confirms what isn't in that news story I played for you and
00:10:12.320 in the article that we would have to collect signatures.
00:10:14.920 It doesn't just jump us to a question.
00:10:17.540 You've got a referendum question.
00:10:19.160 The justice minister can't do that.
00:10:20.740 We'd have to go through the process of collecting signatures again.
00:10:23.640 So who knows how this is going to work out.
00:10:25.260 I'm putting my money on the fact that I think Justice Minister Mickey Amory would say the
00:10:30.580 question is fine.
00:10:32.160 Move ahead with your signature campaign.
00:10:33.920 So I think today the independence movement in Alberta is a little bit closer to getting
00:10:40.800 to a referendum.
00:10:42.720 This legislation will have to pass before that happens.
00:10:45.360 It'll have to have Mickey Amory okay it before we get to the signatures.
00:10:49.200 But I think we're closer today than we were before.
00:10:52.760 I hope to hear from Jeff Rath.
00:10:54.020 Busy man.
00:10:54.640 He's in court today.
00:10:55.780 Don't know whether we'll hear from him.
00:10:57.440 But I have a request out to get him on the channel.
00:11:00.760 So we can talk about what happened at the AGM with the United Conservative Party last week.
00:11:06.040 How things have transpired since then.
00:11:08.620 And this court case.
00:11:10.000 And what's happened here with Bill 14 here in Alberta.
00:11:14.540 Fascinating times in an interesting province when it comes to politics.
00:11:17.640 If you like the video, give me a thumbs up.
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00:11:21.760 Leave some comments below.
00:11:23.380 Grab yourself a big blue mug of coffee.
00:11:26.300 I'm going to warm this one up.
00:11:27.680 And I'll see you in the next one.