Headlines

• An Alberta judge will decide next week if a proposed provincial separation referendum question is constitutional.
• Court of King’s Bench Justice Colin Feasby is expected to give his ruling Aug. 14.

Edmonton, Aug.7.– The matter stems from Alberta Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure referring the proposed question to the Edmonton court last week. He has asked the judge to determine whether the question violates the Constitution, including treaty rights.

The question asks Albertans: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province in Canada?”

At the start of a hearing Thursday, Mitch Sylvestre, an executive with the group that proposed the question — the Alberta Prosperity Project —applied to the court to strike the referral.

Sylvestre’s lawyer, Jeffrey Rath, argued judicial scrutiny is premature, as there’s no guarantee enough signatures would be gathered to put the question on a ballot or that a referendum would even pass.

Rath also said the act of simply asking a question doesn’t violate the Constitution, because it would only come into play if the referendum passed and negotiations began on Alberta separating from Canada ...

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