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Meet the Indigenous lawyer who's shaking up Alberta's independence movement
OTTAWA — Indigenous lawyer Leighton Grey was the surprise star of an Alberta independence rally at the provincial legislature in Edmonton over the weekend.
Grey, a criminal defence attorney and Carry the Kettle Nakoda Nation member based in Cold Lake, Alta., delighted the pro-independence crowd when he laid out his vision for a future Alberta where all citizens are treated equally under the law.
“To the government, (and) I’m talking about the federal government now, I’m the other. I’m an Indian,” said Grey. “Which is to say I live in an apartheid state. That’s what Canada is.”
“If we’re going to create the greatest society, a new Alberta that’s free and prosperous, that society has to be one that unifies Indigenous peoples and, as Albertans, invites them into the community that ends the otherness,” he finished to applause.
Grey made the case, through his 20-minute speech, that the Indian Act of 1876 set the Indigenous on a separate, and inferior, path from the non-Indigenous.
“They call us the First Nations, but I find we’re first in all the wrong things and we’re last in all the good things,” said Grey.
He said he didn’t understand why the Indigenous groups fighting the referendum on separation want to continue a “dysfunctional relationship” with Ottawa.
“What I would say to these chiefs who are pleading and going to court and trying to stop Alberta independence, explain to me how this relationship is good for our people. Because I’m just a dumb country lawyer, but it goes way over my head,” said Grey to another round of applause.
Grey said the way to break the “cycle of abuse” was by voting for Option 2 in the Oct. 19 referendum on separation .
His self-assessment as a “dumb country lawyer” undersells his impressive resume , which includes, among many other accolades, becoming Alberta’s youngest lawyer appointed to the King’s Counsel in 2010 and being named one of Canada’s Top 50 Lawyers in 2024.
National Post spoke to Grey about his support for Alberta independence. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
The referendum is in six weeks and polls show most Albertans have already decided how they’ll vote. Why wait until now to make your case for independence?I was not personally involved in the referendum drive. I’ve just, more or less, been a speaker who’s invited to attend various events. What’s pushed me to jump into the fray a bit more has been the oppositional attitude toward the referendum that’s been taken by the premier (Danielle Smith). If I had known, say six or nine months ago, that she’d be taking this stance, I probably would have done things differently.
Much of the reporting heading into the referendum has framed the pro-independence side as racist and anti-Indigenous — and not without the help of comments made by some of its purported leaders. Do you think you could have weakened this narrative by taking a more visible role earlier on?Well, I have a lot of respect for what people like Mitch Sylvestre and Jeff Rath have done to bring this issue to the forefront, and I’d never want to disparage those guys. But one of the things the independence movement lacks right now is a clear leader that can set the tone and establish message discipline. There’s no question that the other side has used this against us.
Do you see your self as someone who could possibly be the face of the movement?No. I don’t have any aspiration to be an out-in-front political leader. That isn’t in my DNA right now. I would see myself more as maybe a key advisor. Someone who could help develop policy for, for example, Indigenous peoples.
Is media attention on Indigenous critics of Alberta independence — such as court challengers and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew — underrepresenting Indigenous support for independence?Absolutely. When I connect with Indigenous people, either through my podcast or when I go out and speak, I generally find that they want the same things as everyone else does: safe streets, proper health care, good schools for their kids. It’s hard to argue that Canada is succeeding in these areas, especially when you look at the living conditions on reservations. Many don’t even have potable water!
Of the people planning to vote “Option 2” next month, there seems to be two groups: those who want a clean break from Canada and those who want to send Ottawa a message. Which one are you?I think the best we can hope for is to send Ottawa a message. Unlike some in the movement, I happen to think that we already have a pretty good Constitution. The problem is that we’re not governing ourselves in accordance to it. It was never intended for us to have this all-powerful federal government, with really all effective lawmaking power concentrated in the prime minister’s office. I’m more in the line of seeing the independence movement as a way of showing Albertans, and indeed the rest of Canada, that there’s a better way to govern ourselves.
National Post rmohamed@postmedia.com
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