Tsuut'ina Nation head chief says Alberta separation is not possible

Tsuut'ina Nation Head Chief Ellery Starlight says Alberta separation is impossible—and warned Thursday that Albertans aren't thinking through the cost as a referendum vote looms October 19.

"Whether separatists like it or not, it's just the way it is. We will never let go of the treaty," Starlight said. "We entered into treaty, we've complied, Canada and Alberta have broken it a number of times but ultimately, this country was built on the backs of us, of the First Nations, and the ancestors and successors of Canada. We're not going to change it. We won't change it for anybody."

Starlight's position reflects Tsuut'ina leadership's stance against any type of separation regarding treaty arrangements. The chief argued that true sovereign Alberta would need to get past treaties—but that First Nations will never permit it. His broader concern: separation rhetoric will leave the next generation footing the bill. "I think that's something that Albertans are not really thinking about, and I think that's something that the separatists don't care about," he said.

Keith Wilson, a constitutional lawyer and co-leader of Let Alberta Decide, the pro-independence group backing the referendum, countered that treaties have endured constitutional changes without negative effects. He cited three precedents: Alberta joining Confederation in 1905, devolution of federal jurisdiction to Alberta in 1930, and repatriation of the Canadian Constitution in 1982.

"Changing the constitutional order of Canada through independence will be exactly the same. All of the evidence is clear that changing the constitutional order has zero negative impact on treaties," Wilson said. "Starlight's concerns are completely without foundation in history and law."

Wilson cited a 1998 Supreme Court decision made after the 1995 Quebec referendum as legal blueprint. Under that ruling, if citizens of any province choose independence through referendum, the federal government, other provinces, and affected First Nations must sit around a negotiating table—though First Nations do not have veto power.

Starlight also argued separatism conversations are destructive to Alberta's land, economy, and First Nations' lands, pointing to Treaty 7 as the foundation ensuring Alberta's existence, peace, and shared resources. Wilson countered that separation wouldn't damage Alberta's land or economy, citing Alberta's continued growth, youngest population in the country, and one of the world's largest oil reserves alongside millions of acres of agricultural land. He referenced a Royal Bank of Canada report from five months ago stating over a trillion dollars in investment have left Canada due to federal policy uncertainty, arguing an independent Alberta would avoid that burden.