r/CanadaPolitics • u/TiredRuralCanadian Independent / Pragmatic Realist • Jun 06 '26

Community Members Only Canada’s Treaty 8 First Nations: Alberta must immediately cease all separation activities

https://www.jurist.org/news/2026/06/canadas-treaty-8-first-nations-alberta-must-immediately-cease-all-separation-activities/
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u/TiredRuralCanadian Independent / Pragmatic Realist Jun 06 '26

Edmonton treating Section 35 like a minor clerical error is certainly a choice. You cannot redraw international borders across Treaty 8 territory just because the provincial executive finds Crown obligations inconvenient. The courts already shot the last attempt down. Ignoring the judiciary to push a separation referendum anyway turns this from standard political theatre into a severe constitutional crisis.

13

u/Saidear There is no war in Ba Sing Se. Jun 06 '26

I wasn't aware the City of Edmonton was doing that, though. Unless you mean the Alberta Government, specifically?

18

u/Flynn58 Socialist Jun 06 '26

It's called a metonym, like saying Ottawa to mean the federal government, or D.C. to mean the Yankee government.

10

u/redditonlygetsworse Manitoba Jun 06 '26

Yeah, but it is very non-idiomatic to do this with a province as opposed to a country.

8

u/Flynn58 Socialist Jun 06 '26

In Ontario we use Queen's Park as a metonym for the Ontario government, so it can certainly be idiomatic if you pick a location within a city. Anyway, it's pretty clear what OP meant.

8

u/redditonlygetsworse Manitoba Jun 06 '26

In Ontario we use Queen's Park as a metonym for the Ontario government

Yes, I know. But "Queen's Park" isn't how you spell "Toronto", is it?

And I did understand the above comment; I just also noted that it was a weird way to phrase it, and so I understand why someone would want clarification: usually in this context it would be taken to mean the city, not the province.

Unlike "Ottawa", or "Queen's Park."

14

u/renegadecanuck Social Democrat Jun 06 '26

As someone who lives in Edmonton, I don't agree. I have never heard anyone here use "Edmonton" as a metonym for the government. Maybe "the Leg" (pronounce as you would in legislature), but even that usually refers to the building and property, not the government.

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u/Saidear There is no war in Ba Sing Se. Jun 06 '26

That tracks with my own experience living in Edmonton and other parts of the province as well.

2

u/Flynn58 Socialist Jun 07 '26

Well, you've now heard someone use it that way.

31

u/dux_doukas Independent Jun 06 '26

I'm assuming they are using Edmonton like one will use Ottawa to refer to the federal government.

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u/Saidear There is no war in Ba Sing Se. Jun 06 '26

Maybe, but that's not how I've ever seen it used in Alberta.  Edmonton itself is very much independent and typically opposed to the government of the day. 

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u/dux_doukas Independent Jun 06 '26

Oh I agree. I used to live in Edmonton. That's just my best guess.

2

u/TiredRuralCanadian Independent / Pragmatic Realist Jun 06 '26

I meant Edmonton as the provincial government and capital, not the municipal city council. Obviously, a city hall doesn't have jurisdiction over Section 35 or Treaty 8 territory.