Juno News - Ottawa braces for Alberta’s separation referendum

00:00:00.000 True North has learned that Ottawa may be bracing for a constitutional challenge if Alberta's

00:00:15.440 independence movement proceeds. That's according to heavily redacted documents obtained by True

00:00:20.320 North, revealing that top constitutional and Indigenous law experts are being looped in,

00:00:25.380 including the lawyer who helped shut down Quebec's separation bid in the Supreme Court.

00:00:30.320 Meanwhile, Premier Danielle Smith is pressing forward on her own path, launching the Alberta Next panel to

00:00:36.240 ask Albertans what reforms they want to vote on in referenda next year, from a provincial police force

00:00:41.600 to immigration control and pension reform. She's also expecting a new pipeline proposal within weeks,

00:00:48.160 hoping the private sector will step up where Ottawa once failed. And the Edmonton Elks might be going

00:00:53.200 back to their roots, with various signs pointing to a name reversion to the once-famed Edmonton Eskimos.

00:00:59.120 All that and more on this week's Alberta Roundup. I'm your host, Isaac Lamoureux,

00:01:03.600 and let's get into that first story right away.

00:01:05.360 Heavily redacted documents that I obtained reveal that Ottawa is seeking advice on Alberta's

00:01:11.600 independence from a top Crown lawyer who successfully argued in the Supreme Court that Quebec had no

00:01:17.680 unilateral right to leave Canada after the narrow 1995 separation vote. Citing solicitor-client privilege,

00:01:24.560 a vast majority of the contents of the documents that showed the Department of Justice's communication

00:01:30.320 surrounding Alberta's potential separation were blacked out, except for the names of those

00:01:35.280 consulted. Correspondence dated from May 15th to May 23rd contain emails between the Department of

00:01:41.760 Justice's Senior General Counsel on Constitutional Law, Warren J. Newman, Senior General Counsel on

00:01:47.920 Indigenous Rights and Relations, Uzma Esenula, and Crown Indigenous Relations Senior Director,

00:01:53.760 John Topping. Newman acted as co-counsel for the Attorney General of Canada in 1998

00:02:00.240 when the Liberal government under Jean Chrétien shut down Quebec's secessionist arguments in the

00:02:05.280 Supreme Court of Canada. The Court ruled that Quebec could not legally secede from Canada on its own

00:02:11.760 because the Canadian Constitution does not allow it, and that secession could only happen through

00:02:16.800 negotiations involving all provinces and the federal government. In a reflection on the 10th

00:02:22.160 anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision, Newman wrote that, quote, the Supreme Court of Canada

00:02:27.760 confirmed that unilateral secession would be an unlawful act under the Constitution and a violation of

00:02:33.840 the Canadian legal order, a revolution. He added that even with the successful referendum, a province would

00:02:39.920 not gain the legal right to break away. Instead, such a vote would, quote, give rise to an obligation of all

00:02:46.480 parties to the Federation to negotiate terms and conditions. The Department defended redacting

00:02:52.480 nearly the entirety of the provided documents. It said, quote, you will note that certain records

00:02:58.400 or portions thereof have been withheld under Section 23, Solicitor-Client Privilege Information,

00:03:04.160 of the Act. However, this does confirm that this was a legal consultation, not just a conversation among

00:03:10.560 buddies. The inclusion of Crown Indigenous Relations officials also confirms the government is weighing the

00:03:15.840 role of First Nations in any future secession scenario. Indigenous leaders across Alberta have

00:03:21.200 spoken out against Premier Daniel Smith's Bill 54, which lowers the threshold for citizen-initiated

00:03:27.600 referenda and could pave the way for a future separation vote. Still, constitutional experts say

00:03:34.240 First Nations do not have the legal authority to veto a vote. Canadian Constitution Foundation lawyer

00:03:40.000 Josh de Haas previously told True North, quote, there is nothing I'm aware of that would suggest that First

00:03:44.880 Nations people could prevent those discussions from taking place. Newman agreed that a clear majority

00:03:50.080 vote on a province's desire to leave Canada would create a constitutional duty for all parties to

00:03:55.840 negotiate. He said, quote, the conduct of the parties would be governed by constitutional principles,

00:04:01.600 federalism, democracy, constitutionalism itself, and the rule of law, and the protection of minorities.

00:04:08.400 A political majority that did not act in accordance with the underlying constitutional principles

00:04:13.200 would put at risk the legitimacy of the exercise of its rights. The conduct of the parties would assume

00:04:19.680 primary constitutional significance. Secession could not be achieved under the Constitution unilaterally,

00:04:26.320 that is, without principled negotiation within the existing constitutional framework.

00:04:31.360 Despite the photos of the heavily redacted pages showing nearly full-page blackouts, they offer no

00:04:36.960 insight into Ottawa's current stance as Alberta separatists move closer to meeting the legal threshold for a

00:04:42.080 province-wide referendum. Let's get into our next story on a big democratic project coming forward

00:04:47.280 in Alberta. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has launched a province-wide consultation body called

00:04:52.960 the Alberta Next Panel, aimed at gathering feedback on how Alberta can better assert its constitutional powers.

00:04:59.200 To start off, let's just take a quick listen of what Smith had to say.

00:05:02.560 Alberta, our home, pristine mountains and lakes, wide open pastures and fertile fields, unmatched natural resources,

00:05:11.600 world-class cities, world-class people. Alberta truly has it all. We are a strong and free people, full of

00:05:20.320 entrepreneurs, food producers, builders, caregivers, teachers, and a whole lot of hard-working, tough-as-nails, get-er-done grit.

00:05:29.840 Our potential is as limitless as our skies. But let's face it, Alberta is being held back.

00:05:37.280 Our economy has been under attack for most of the last 10 years. Frankly, off and on for decades long

00:05:43.440 before then. Not by a foreign country or by rural economic forces. No, Alberta's biggest threat to our

00:05:50.800 prosperity and growth has come from our own nation's capital. Alberta has an Ottawa problem.

00:05:56.320 For the last 10 years, Ottawa, led by successive Liberal governments propped up by their NDP allies,

00:06:03.440 have taken direct aim at Alberta's core industries. Ottawa's Bill C-69 killed several major Alberta

00:06:10.160 pipeline and resource projects. Their West Coast tanker ban specifically blocks Alberta oil from

00:06:15.920 accessing world markets. Their excessive industrial carbon taxes and the new oil and gas emissions cap are

00:06:22.560 designed to keep our world-class oil and gas reserves in the ground. And net zero mandates on everything

00:06:28.480 from electricity to vehicles are causing the cost of living to increase, business costs to soar, and are

00:06:34.640 even endangering the stability of our power grid in the dead of winter. And the effects on Alberta's economy

00:06:40.800 have been staggering. In just the last 10 years alone, more than 500 billion dollars, that's a half a trillion

00:06:47.680 dollars in global investment capital destined for our resource sector has disappeared. It walked away

00:06:54.240 from Alberta and Canada and instead headed off to Texas, Asia and the Middle East to places that welcome

00:07:01.280 resource development and jobs. That cost Alberta and Canada quite literally hundreds of billions in GDP,

00:07:08.480 corporate taxes and resource royalties for health care, education and public infrastructure.

00:07:13.840 It cost hundreds of thousands of jobs and thousands of healthy and growing businesses. It was national

00:07:22.320 self-harm on a level never seen. And no province was hurt more than ours. And those costs keep building

00:07:29.440 every single day. Over the coming months, the Alberta NEXT panel will hold in-person and virtual town

00:07:36.000 halls across the province, providing residents with a platform to engage with policy experts,

00:07:41.120 government officials and constitutional scholars. The panel will consider public feedback on a wide

00:07:47.200 range of reforms, including creating a provincial police force service, withdrawing from the Canada

00:07:52.960 pension plan, taking over personal tax collection from the CRA and equalization reform. The panel will

00:07:59.040 also seek public feedback on the prospect of Alberta assuming more control over immigration policy,

00:08:04.480 with the stated goal of protecting the province from what the government calls,

00:08:08.240 out-of-control federal immigration levels. Additionally, the Smith government wants to

00:08:13.360 pursue the potential of amendments to the Canadian constitution to further empower provinces and

00:08:19.200 protect provincial jurisdiction. The Alberta government says the province contributes $20 billion more

00:08:24.880 each year to Ottawa than it receives in services and transfer. A gap Smith has long criticized as

00:08:30.640 fundamentally unfair. According to the Alberta NEXT panel website, the list of policy ideas may be modified

00:08:36.720 during the consultation tour depending on public feedback. The panel's recommendations will inform

00:08:42.080 what policies appear on a 2026 referendum ballot. Our next story will cover something that might see

00:08:48.640 results come a bit quicker. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says a major energy company could be coming

00:08:54.800 forward with a new pipeline proposal to the BC coast within weeks. Speaking to Bloomberg News, Smith said,

00:09:00.880 quote, I think there will be a private proponent, probably within weeks, adding that her government

00:09:06.320 is actively engaged with several companies interested in building new oil infrastructure. The comments come

00:09:12.400 days after the federal government passed Bill C-5, which allows infrastructure projects deemed to be in

00:09:18.000 the national interest, including pipelines, to undergo expedited environmental reviews. Smith noted that the

00:09:24.880 legislation includes a two-year target for project approval. According to Smith, the most viable option

00:09:31.280 would be a pipeline connecting Alberta to northwest British Columbia. She said it is, quote, the most credible and the

00:09:37.200 most economic of all the pipeline proposals the private sector would consider. The federal government previously

00:09:43.280 cancelled Enbridge's Northern Gateway project following a legal challenge from indigenous and environmental groups. However, the

00:09:48.880 Carney government has signaled renewed interest in energy development amid ongoing trade tensions with U.S.

00:09:54.880 President Donald Trump's administration. Smith said that she's feeling optimistic about the prospect of

00:10:00.400 working with Ottawa on new oil transportation projects, especially if led by private proponents.

00:10:06.640 She also floated the idea of a grand bargain in which oil companies construct a large-scale carbon

00:10:12.160 capture facility in Alberta in exchange for regulatory approval to build more export capacity.

00:10:17.920 Smith said in January, quote, the world needs more Alberta oil and gas when her government signed a

00:10:24.800 letter of intent with Enbridge to double provincial oil output. She added, quote, this will also allow

00:10:31.040 us to play a role in supporting the United States in its energy security and affordability goals.

00:10:36.000 Smith said Alberta would support any new project by committing to ship its royalty oil through the new line,

00:10:41.760 helping to ensure its financial viability. Smith said, quote, if I'm right, then the proponent will come

00:10:47.600 forward and we'll back them. And we'll see whether or not the federal government will accept that.

00:10:52.400 For our last story today, we'll cover a sports story that could result in reversing a woke virtue

00:10:57.520 signaling initiative. Despite starting the 2025 CFL season in the loss column, the Edmonton Elks may be

00:11:03.520 preparing to abandon their current name and returning to their historic identity as the Edmonton Eskimos,

00:11:08.480 which fans are actually celebrating as a win. At least one respectable source is suggesting that to be the

00:11:13.920 case. Former TSN 1260 radio host Paul Almeida, who covered the team for five years, said he believes

00:11:20.640 the change is imminent. He said, quote, I would say that it's pretty clear that the Elks name is on the

00:11:26.560 way out and that there's a pretty good chance that the Eskimos name is returning to the club,

00:11:30.960 probably next season. Almeida pointed to several signs, including the removal of the Elks logo from

00:11:36.560 the stadium wall and the field, uniforms reverting to the traditional green and gold colors with no Elks

00:11:42.320 branding and the return of the former team mascot. The Elks' home opener drew just 14,389 fans,

00:11:50.800 the lowest turnout since 1969, according to one fan. By comparison, more than 52,000 fans attended the

00:11:58.480 BC Lions' home opener that same week. Fan sentiment online has clearly supported the team returning to

00:12:05.360 its original name. For example, when the team promoted its new mascot, replies were flooded with calls to

00:12:11.360 revert to Eskimos. One fan said, quote, I will immediately buy back my season seats if you

00:12:17.520 officially change the name back. Do it. Do it. Another fan said a similar thing, saying, quote,

00:12:23.040 I'll buy seasons with a name reversion. Almeida also hosted a poll on his X account where 74% of

00:12:29.440 respondents said they support a name change back to Eskimos. Only 10% said they wanted to keep the name

00:12:36.000 Elks. Although the franchise has not confirmed any rebranding plans, the team's new general manager,

00:12:41.760 Ed Harvey, has reinstated the club's traditional motto. Once an Eskimo, always an Eskimo.

00:12:48.640 That wraps up this week's Alberta Roundup. My name's Isaac Lamoureux. Have a great weekend,

00:12:53.040 thank you, and God bless.

Juno News - June 29, 2025

Ottawa braces for Alberta’s separation referendum

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript