An Alberta judge has ruled that a proposed referendum question on the province’s separation from Canada would contravene the Constitution.
Court of King’s Bench Justice Colin Feasby said in a Dec. 5 decision filed in Calgary that a proposed separation-referendum question from the sovereignty advocacy group Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) would be unconstitutional because it doesn’t guarantee the rights protected by the Canadian Constitution.
The decision came less than a day after the Alberta government tabled Bill 14, that, if passed, would have discontinued the court proceeding as part of measures aimed at reducing delays for citizen-initiated petitions.
Feasby said in his decision that the province’s move to potentially halt the court case amounted to silencing the court. He had been hearing arguments on the constitutionality of the APP’s question after Alberta’s chief electoral officer Gordon McClure in late July referred the question to the court….