Judge reserves the decision on whether he will stop the review of Alberta Separation question

A judge has reserved his decision to revise a proposed Alberta Separation referendum.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Colin Feasby is expected to give his statement on August 14.

The case stems from Alberta Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure who refers the proposed question for the Edmonton Court last week. He has asked the court to determine whether the question violates the constitution, including treaty rights.

The question asks Albertanen: “Do you agree that the province of Alberta will become a sovereign country and ceases to become a province in Canada?”

At the start of a hearing Thursday, Mitch Sylvestre, a director of the group who asked the question – the Alberta Prosperity Project – applied to the court to touch the reference.

Sylvestre’s lawyer, Jeffrey Rath, argued that judicial investigation is premature, because there is no guarantee that sufficient signatures would be collected to ask a vote whether that would even pass a referendum.

Rath also said that the act of simply asking a question does not violate the Constitution, because it would only come into play if the referendum would pass and started the negotiations on Alberta who separated from Canada.

Feasby asked if Rath agreed that Albertanen should have more information about the consequences of what they are being asked about.

Rath said the judge that many excellent questions about divorce are politics and not those who have to answer the court.

“The court does not play a supervisory role on the political aspects of the constitutional negotiations,” said Rath.

“All issues surrounding the rights of First Nations, whether it concerns minority rights, all those things are part of the referendum campaign for people to argue and teach each other without interference in court.”

The judge asked that argument and said that it can be implanted by the referendum process that Albertans have the right to know what they have to vote and answers that can determine their voice.

“Sometimes the only way is to inform the public about it to have a discussion, and perhaps to have a court decision,” said Feasby.

Rath was also critical of McClure and said that the Chief Electoral Officer abused the trial by sending the question to the court for an assessment without taking a position or defending the referral before the court.

Prime Minister Danielle Smith and Amery have also criticized McClure, saying that the question must be approved and only a judicial assessment must face if it receives a majority of votes.

McClure said in a statement last week that he only followed the procedure and invites the seriousness of a possible referendum to judicial supervision. He mentioned the question ‘serious and important’, with ‘the potential to have a major impact on all Albertans’.

If the assessment continues, the judge said that he would like to make a decision about the question towards the end of the year.

Several groups, including the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in Noord -Alberta, have said they hope to make submissions as interveners.

A letter that this week sent to the court by government lawyer Nicholas Trofimuk has said that Abery is also planning to make submissions. It repeats that the minister believes that the question is and must be approved.

“It is a fixed law that the government of a province of Canada has the right to consult its population through a referendum on a matter, and that the result of a referendum on the separation of a province, if sufficiently clear, should be considered an expression of democratic will,” the letter is.

If the assessment is affected and the approved question, Sylvestre and the Alberta Prosperity Project would have to collect 177,000 signatures in four months to get it on a vote.

McClure has recently approved a competitive question that Alberta wants to have an official policy that it will remain in Canada forever.

It was put forward by former progressive conservative deputy Prime Minister Thomas Lukaszuk, who is also looking for submissions in the court review.

Outside the court on Thursday, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam signed the petition of Lukaszuk.

Adam told reporters that he hopes that the court request the request to reject the assessment so that his community can weigh.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Adam. “I think there are better ways to deal with economic prosperity, instead of separation, because that’s what it’s all about.

“It has nothing to do with you, me or the general public. It is just certain people who are going to bloom and the rest of us will pay the price.”

Lukaszuk’s proposal needed 300,000 signatures in 90 days to get a voice because it was approved before new provincial rules came into force with lower signature thresholds.

Lukaszuk, who started collecting signatures last week, said it is too early to say how many there are, but teams of volunteers in the province are working on it.

“I want a million signatures to send a strong signal to this prime minister, to this Minister of Justice, and to the rest of Canada (that) yes, there is a segment of Albertanen who fantasizing a bit about separating. But the fact is that the vast majority of us want nothing to do with it.”