The Critical Compass Podcast - November 07, 2025


Bruce Pardy： The Alberta Government Has HAMSTRUNG Itself in Independence Negotiations


Episode Stats

Length

5 minutes

Words per Minute

143.61887

Word Count

826

Sentence Count

52

Hate Speech Sentences

2


Summary

In this episode, we talk about the possibility of an independent Alberta and how that might affect the status of Aboriginal rights in the province. We also talk about why a referendum on independence would be a bad idea, and what it could mean for the future of the country.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 The government of Alberta could hold an independence referendum on its own without
00:00:07.980 any of this Citizen Initiative Act anytime it wanted. So it's great to have this Citizen
00:00:14.700 Initiative Act there, but on the other hand, it's also a distraction. It makes it look as though
00:00:19.640 this is a necessary process to get into a referendum, and that is not so. The government
00:00:25.260 could do this on its own anytime. It just seems to be that it does not want ownership of that
00:00:31.680 process. It wants the citizens to do it so it doesn't have to own it. So if and when the
00:00:37.860 government of Alberta decides to hold an independence referendum, there is a section
00:00:44.060 in the Referendum Act, which is also going to be a barrier. It's not the same one. It doesn't have
00:00:48.540 the same wording, but I'll read that one to you. It's not as broad, but it is also a problem.
00:00:53.360 Section 8.11, subsection 3. Nothing in a referendum held under this Act is to be construed as
00:01:10.140 abrogating or derogating from the existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Aboriginal peoples of
00:01:18.220 Canada that are recognized and affirmed that are recognized and affirmed by Section 35 of the
00:01:23.880 Constitution Act 1982. Now, what does that mean? That sounds like it means the government of Alberta
00:01:31.720 holds a referendum on anything, including independence. No result of that referendum
00:01:38.340 can change the status of Aboriginal rights in Alberta. The Alberta government has had the Alberta
00:01:46.780 legislature include that section in the Act. If that section was not in there, then as far as I'm
00:01:55.160 concerned, you know, an independent Alberta could do whatever it wanted. Like in an independent Alberta,
00:02:01.500 I'm hoping that there will be no Crown. No Crown. And therefore, not necessarily any deals that the
00:02:11.440 Crown made. You could start with a blank slate if that's what the country wanted. This proposition that, oh, well,
00:02:19.980 you can be a dependent, but you can't break away from these obligations created by the British Crown.
00:02:26.300 Nonsense. Absolute nonsense.
00:02:29.040 So I've bounced these ideas around with a couple different people. The way that I've heard it described is that
00:02:36.940 if going down this path and you have to address these treaties, either they're going to be upheld
00:02:42.360 by the federal government, they're going to be renegotiated by the Alberta, like by an Alberta
00:02:51.280 government as it becomes, as independence has moved forward. Or if they just wanted to keep doing their
00:02:57.420 thing, they would just put a fence around the reservations and that would be a pseudo state inside of Alberta,
00:03:03.140 which is not ideal, but that seems like how it is if nothing moves forward, if no conversations move
00:03:11.600 forward on the, on the treaty side of things. Well, so the Supreme Court of Canada in this
00:03:17.340 1988 reference case that everybody is referring to and appropriately says that in these negotiations
00:03:25.140 that would follow a successful referendum, the interests of various groups, including Aboriginal
00:03:33.360 groups, should in these negotiations be taken, this is the language that they use, should be taken
00:03:40.800 into account. Now, that's very important language. To be taken into account does not mean
00:03:49.280 that their continuation that their continuation is guaranteed. To be taken into account means you
00:03:54.480 turn your mind to them. You put them on the table and the two parties decide what's going to happen.
00:04:01.120 So they are very much in flux like everything else. Everything else is in flux. The Supreme Court says
00:04:06.760 a successful independent referendum is a repudiation of the existing constitutional order.
00:04:14.860 That's what we're after. We're after a repudiation of the existing constitutional order. Aboriginal rights
00:04:22.640 are part of the existing constitutional order. And for my money, and I'm not the only one,
00:04:29.260 an independent Alberta should start with a blank slate. And a blank slate means no charter,
00:04:35.580 no Aboriginal rights, no Canadian constitution. You start from afresh and decide how the country's
00:04:41.820 going to work. And so I do not accept these arguments that, oh, well, you know, we can be
00:04:48.020 independent, but these things must are required to continue. They are not required to continue.
00:04:54.320 That's a choice. I mean, James, when you say that the federal government might uphold the treaties,
00:04:59.840 well, you know, what does that have to do with it? The federal government can uphold them. The federal
00:05:04.200 government, the Canadian government is still subject to those obligations because that situation does not
00:05:11.180 change for them. What's happening in Alberta is a complete change. Alberta is no longer part of
00:05:17.140 confederation. And the Canadian constitution will not apply except for this section of this Alberta
00:05:24.760 statute. The Alberta statute is tying the hands of the Alberta government in negotiating, or will do if
00:05:34.180 we get to that stage, will tie the hands of the Alberta government according to its own laws.
00:05:39.200 I have to emphasize this. This is a self-inflicted restriction.