Alberta files appeal on court decision to throw out separatist referendum petition
Posted June 11, 2026 2:56 pm.
Last Updated June 11, 2026 3:10 pm.
Alberta’s government has filed its appeal of a judge’s decision to quash a petition looking to force a vote on the province quitting Canada.
Premier Danielle Smith criticized the ruling last month, calling it “anti-democratic,” and promised to appeal.
Court of King’s Bench Justice Shaina Leonard found the referendum petition shouldn’t have been issued under provincial law and that Smith’s government neglected its duty to consult First Nations.
Leonard’s decision effectively threw out the petition, which organizers submitted to Elections Alberta at the beginning of May. The campaign’s leaders have said almost 302,000 Albertans signed their names.
A group of Alberta First Nations challenged the petition and Elections Alberta’s decision to issue it.
In the appeal filed Thursday in Edmonton court, the province says it plans to argue that the judge made 14 errors in her decision.
The appeal document says issuing the petition didn’t trigger the duty to consult and that the judge failed to give weight to the democratic purpose of the petition process.
It says the government also intends to argue the judge misinterpreted provisions of a bill passed in December that allowed the separatist group behind the petition to reapply after its first application was hung up in court.
Leonard ruled that despite the intended purpose of the legislation, the group shouldn’t have been able to reapply because the first application was rejected before the law came into effect.
The appeal also says the judge erred by “improperly assuming that Alberta may not comply with its statutory and constitutional obligations.”
The document indicates Alberta won’t be applying to have the appeal expedited.
The premier’s office and a spokesperson for Justice Minister Mickey Amery didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Smith announced after the ruling that Albertans would vote in an Oct. 19 referendum on whether they want to remain in Canada or start the process to have a second, binding referendum on separation.
The premier cited the judge’s decision as being the reason a direct question on separation can’t be added to the ballot.
