Cuthand: Indigenous leaders assert rights in separation debate

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This week, while Prime Minister Carney prepared for his trip to Washington, all the premiers lined up behind him except for Alberta’s Danielle Smith, who tabled legislation that would allow for a referendum on separation.

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She was playing right into American President Donald Trump’s hands by opening a path to the annexation of his “cherished 51st state.”

Smith is a narrow parochial thinker who lacks the team spirit to be a part of Canada. She cares more about the oil industry and her political base than the common good. Her term in office, much like Scott Moe in Saskatchewan, has been that of a right-wing populist playing the victim card.

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Now she is toying with a referendum on separation. Fortunately, the First Nations stepped up and have set the record straight on our treaty relationship.

It was pointed out that Alberta was created in 1905, 25 to 30 years after the treaties were signed. Alberta was a part of the Northwest Territories and it and Saskatchewan were carved out as purely artificial provincial jurisdictions. The traditional owners of the land are reflected in the treaty areas.

The Alberta government has been carpet-bombed with letters and blowback from the Alberta chiefs who are opposed to any talk of separation. In fact, it wouldn’t be separation for a landlocked nation — it would mean annexation with the United States, a dismal prospect.

It would mean an end to medicare and the introduction of $7,000-a-year health insurance, a return to the old imperial system of measurement and a wholesale lack of social programs that provide a safety net for families. Plus, they would have a president who’s a buffoon and a laughing stock.

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The chiefs explained that under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, section 35 of the Canadian Constitution and the treaties any independence for a province would need approval from the First Nations, who are the original owners of the land.

The response from the chiefs was: good luck with that.

Chief Sheldon Sunshine from the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and Chief Billy Joe Tuccaro from the Mikisew Cree Nation signed a joint letter telling Smith to “cease and desist her separatist threats.”

They rightly pointed out that “Alberta didn’t exist when we agreed to share the land with the Crown.” Furthermore, the province has no right to supersede or interfere with our treaties.

They close out by suggesting that if Premier Smith or her supporters don’t like it in Canada, they are welcome to seek citizenship somewhere else.

The Onion Lake First Nation is located in both Saskatchewan and Alberta, so they have a dog in this fight as well. In a letter to the premier, Chief Lewis called Bill C-54, the Alberta legislation that lowers the threshold for referendums as abhorrent and irresponsible.

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“Our treaties were entered into before the province of Alberta existed and we are not bound by the political whims of a provincial government.”

The Blackfoot confederacy consists of the Kainai, Siksika and Piikani First Nations in Southern Alberta and collectively represents 25,000 individuals. Chiefs Ouray Crowfoot, Travis Platted Hair and Troy Knowlton called upon the premier to withdraw Bill C-54 and renounce the destabilizing rhetoric.

The chiefs added that Bill C-54 poses a direct challenge to the treaty obligations and constitutional law. “The treaties are not subject to a popular vote and cannot be reinterpreted or overridden by provincial legislation.”

The message from the First Nations leadership is very clear: the provincial government is opening a constitutional can of worms and any movement toward separation could be bogged down for years.

So why all the fuss? Premier Smith is merely fanning the flames to create a diversion to her domestic crises in health care and education, among others. There are enough wannabe Americans in Alberta to create a small but loud movement.

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In both Saskatchewan and Alberta, the growing problem is racism and provincial governments that foster a “me first” mentality. The two premiers are quite content to remain outliers to the rest of Canada and continue to inhabit their parochial cocoon.

Doug Cuthand is the Indigenous affairs columnist for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Regina Leader-Post. He is a member of the Little Pine First Nation.

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