Alberta and Quebec separatist movements are ‘not the same,' Avi Lewis says

OTTAWA — The NDP’s Sherbrooke declaration, a foundational party document which recognizes Quebec’s right to self-determination and a simple majority to secede from Canada, would not apply to Alberta, said NDP Leader Avi Lewis.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Lewis dismissed the legitimacy of the separation movement brewing in Alberta, saying it has “no point of comparison with the historic sovereignty movement in Quebec.”

“It’s not the same thing,” he said.

“This is a MAGA-aligned, potentially funded, disruptive movement that has been really thrown into national prominence by (Alberta Premier) Danielle Smith addressing this question,” he said of Alberta’s sovereigntist movement.

Lewis added that Smith is attempting to “walk a fine line” because a significant part of her political base identifies as Alberta separatists. But he said the vast majority of Albertans want to stay in Canada and don’t want a referendum “that will rip the country apart.”

That question on whether to stay in Canada is expected to be posed to Albertans in October. That same month, Quebecers are going to the polls and seem poised to elect a Parti Québécois government that is promising to hold a referendum in a first mandate.

The NDP adopted its Quebec policy in 2005 known as the Sherbrooke declaration. The document recognizes Quebec’s “right to self-determination, which implies the right of the people of Quebec to decide freely its own political and constitutional future.”

It also states that the NDP would recognize a majority decision (50 per cent + 1) in the event of a Quebec referendum, in a clear contradiction with the federal Clarity Act which requires a “clear majority” but does not clearly define what that threshold is.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said this week that the House of Commons would have to consider several factors, including the size of the majority of valid votes cast in favour of a secessionist option and the percentage of eligible voters, before coming to a decision.

But he made it clear the threshold would not be a simple majority, which has raised the ire of all parties at the National Assembly of Quebec and the Bloc Québécois in Ottawa.

Lewis said his party has a clear position on the question of sovereignty in Quebec with the Sherbrooke declaration. But he refused to entertain hypothetical questions about the majority needed for Alberta to separate from the rest of Canada, saying it won’t happen.

“What I’m saying very clearly is that the margin of victory in an Alberta referendum is irrelevant right now because I don’t believe there will be a referendum,” he said.

Lewis pointed to the recent decision of the Alberta Court of King’s Bench that ruled that a citizen-led petition for a referendum on Alberta separating from Canada could not go ahead because it was unconstitutional and violated Indigenous treaty rights.

Smith has already said she will appeal the decision and opined that section 35 of the Canadian Constitution which affirms treaty rights should be amended in her view.

Her comments drew a sharp rebuke this week from Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew who said it was up to the Alberta government to fulfil the duty to consult with Indigenous peoples.

Lewis said Smith has a “big problem on her hands” as she deals with her party base.

“She tried to have a question for a question and it’s going nowhere.”

“Nobody’s happy.”

National Post calevesque@postmedia.com

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