Bruce Pardy： The Alberta Government Has HAMSTRUNG Itself in Independence Negotiations
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
143.61887
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
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The government of Alberta could hold an independence referendum on its own without
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any of this Citizen Initiative Act anytime it wanted. So it's great to have this Citizen
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Initiative Act there, but on the other hand, it's also a distraction. It makes it look as though
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this is a necessary process to get into a referendum, and that is not so. The government
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could do this on its own anytime. It just seems to be that it does not want ownership of that
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process. It wants the citizens to do it so it doesn't have to own it. So if and when the
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government of Alberta decides to hold an independence referendum, there is a section
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in the Referendum Act, which is also going to be a barrier. It's not the same one. It doesn't have
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the same wording, but I'll read that one to you. It's not as broad, but it is also a problem.
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Section 8.11, subsection 3. Nothing in a referendum held under this Act is to be construed as
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abrogating or derogating from the existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Aboriginal peoples of
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Canada that are recognized and affirmed that are recognized and affirmed by Section 35 of the
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Constitution Act 1982. Now, what does that mean? That sounds like it means the government of Alberta
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holds a referendum on anything, including independence. No result of that referendum
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can change the status of Aboriginal rights in Alberta. The Alberta government has had the Alberta
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legislature include that section in the Act. If that section was not in there, then as far as I'm
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concerned, you know, an independent Alberta could do whatever it wanted. Like in an independent Alberta,
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I'm hoping that there will be no Crown. No Crown. And therefore, not necessarily any deals that the
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Crown made. You could start with a blank slate if that's what the country wanted. This proposition that, oh, well,
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you can be a dependent, but you can't break away from these obligations created by the British Crown.
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So I've bounced these ideas around with a couple different people. The way that I've heard it described is that
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if going down this path and you have to address these treaties, either they're going to be upheld
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by the federal government, they're going to be renegotiated by the Alberta, like by an Alberta
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government as it becomes, as independence has moved forward. Or if they just wanted to keep doing their
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thing, they would just put a fence around the reservations and that would be a pseudo state inside of Alberta,
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which is not ideal, but that seems like how it is if nothing moves forward, if no conversations move
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forward on the, on the treaty side of things. Well, so the Supreme Court of Canada in this
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1988 reference case that everybody is referring to and appropriately says that in these negotiations
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that would follow a successful referendum, the interests of various groups, including Aboriginal
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groups, should in these negotiations be taken, this is the language that they use, should be taken
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into account. Now, that's very important language. To be taken into account does not mean
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that their continuation that their continuation is guaranteed. To be taken into account means you
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turn your mind to them. You put them on the table and the two parties decide what's going to happen.
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So they are very much in flux like everything else. Everything else is in flux. The Supreme Court says
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a successful independent referendum is a repudiation of the existing constitutional order.
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That's what we're after. We're after a repudiation of the existing constitutional order. Aboriginal rights
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are part of the existing constitutional order. And for my money, and I'm not the only one,
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an independent Alberta should start with a blank slate. And a blank slate means no charter,
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no Aboriginal rights, no Canadian constitution. You start from afresh and decide how the country's
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going to work. And so I do not accept these arguments that, oh, well, you know, we can be
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independent, but these things must are required to continue. They are not required to continue.
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That's a choice. I mean, James, when you say that the federal government might uphold the treaties,
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well, you know, what does that have to do with it? The federal government can uphold them. The federal
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government, the Canadian government is still subject to those obligations because that situation does not
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change for them. What's happening in Alberta is a complete change. Alberta is no longer part of
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confederation. And the Canadian constitution will not apply except for this section of this Alberta
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statute. The Alberta statute is tying the hands of the Alberta government in negotiating, or will do if
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we get to that stage, will tie the hands of the Alberta government according to its own laws.
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I have to emphasize this. This is a self-inflicted restriction.