Onion Lake Cree Nation sues Alberta over Smith’s Sovereignty Act

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The Onion Lake Cree Nation is suing the government of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith over its controversial sovereignty law.

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Lawyers representing the community, which straddles Alberta’s border with Saskatchewan about 50 kilometers north of Lloydminster, filed a statement Monday morning in Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench.

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The Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act, which became law late last weekclears the way for Alberta to ignore federal policies it deems unconstitutional and compel provincial entities, such as school boards, municipalities or police departments, to act against federal laws.

Speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, Chief Henry Lewis said the community is calling for the bill to be withdrawn and the premier is addressing the Onion Lake Cree Nation as a sovereign government.

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“We want to send a message to the Premier and the Government of Alberta that this land is Treaty Land, and this law directly violates our Treaty 6, which is why we have decided to take legal action. “, did he declare.

“As treaty people, as treaty nations, we will never allow provincial governments to wield so much unchecked power to undo our treaty promises and commitments,” he said, adding that the First Nation would take similar legal action if Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe’s Bill 88, The Saskatchewan First Act, passes debate in this legislature.

“We remind Premier Smith that no province has the authority to unilaterally alter our Treaty 6 relationship, which Bill 1 attempts to do by ignoring our sovereign jurisdiction and treaty relationship,” said he declared.

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Lake Onion County Bernadine Harper said the community is open to communication and working with the government as per the treaty, but there has been no consultation on Bill 1.

“We are fighting for what was ours,” she said.

“A violation of treaty rights”

Lawyer Michael Marchen said the lawsuit argues the bill overrides the sovereignty of the Onion Lake Cree Nation in favor of the government and is based on the lack of evidence of any consultation with First Nations throughout. long legislative debate on the bill.

“The manner in which Bill 1 was passed was itself a violation of treaty rights,” said Marchen, who added that he was wading through “clearly overlapping” areas of federal and provincial jurisdiction.

“It wrests control of all treaty rights and the treaty relationship of the Crown and the law of Canada from the lieutenant governor and council of Alberta,” he said.

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Marchen said the Onion Lake Cree Nation is seeking injunctions against the law, as well as legal fees.

The government has repeatedly stressed that nothing in the bill should be construed as “abrogating or derogating” from existing Aboriginal or treaty rights, but that hasn’t stopped a torrent of criticism from indigenous leaders. The chiefs of the Treaty 6, 7 and 8 territories — which together cover most of Alberta — spoken against the billsaying they weren’t consulted, and that violates their treaty rights.

Becca Polak, Smith’s publicist, said in a brief statement to Postmedia that the Prime Minister’s Office does not comment on ongoing litigation.

“The Alberta Sovereignty in a United Canada Act is constitutional and does not interfere with or detract from Indigenous and treaty rights,” she wrote.

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Earlier this month, the Onion Lake Cree Nation rejected the entire Sovereignty Act as it was introduced in the legislature. Since then, the government has stripped the bill of additional powers it would have given to Cabinet ministers to pass laws outside the legislature.

Smith also taken heat for the remarks she did in defending her sovereignty law, suggesting that the treatment of Alberta at the hands of Ottawa has been analogous to that of Indigenous peoples.

She also said she looked forward to working in partnership with First Nations.

ljohnson@postmedia.com

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