The government of Alberta has filed an appeal against a judge’s decision that quashed a petition seeking to hold a referendum on Alberta separating from Canada.
In her May 13 ruling for Alberta’s superior trial court, Justice Shaina Leonard held that Alberta had failed to adequately consult First Nations before allowing the petition drive to proceed.
Court documents filed June 11 in Edmonton show Alberta intends to argue that the judge made 14 specific legal errors in reaching her judgment.
“Despite my personal support for remaining in Canada, I am deeply troubled by an erroneous court decision that interferes with the democratic rights of hundreds of thousands of Albertans,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith previously said in a May 21 televised address where she announced that a question on whether or not to hold a binding referendum on separation would be included in a series of referendum questions put to Albertans this October….