EDMONTON —
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says those seeking an independence referendum should not have “gatekeepers,” like the courts, standing in their way.

Smith spoke today on her radio call-in show for the first time after her government proposed legislation that would grind to a halt an ongoing court case on the issue.

She says giving Justice Minister Mickey Amery the power over referendum questions upholds democracy.

Smith says the courts “seem to want to approve the ones they like, and hold up the ones they don’t like.”

It comes a day after an Alberta Justice Colin Feasby said a separatist question would go against the Charter and the province’s existing referendum law.

Feasby says in a decision Friday Smith’s United Conservative government’s proposed law to change the rules in the middle of the game is undemocratic.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2025.

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press