By Jack Farrell A court hearing began Tuesday for an Alberta First Nation’s request to at least temporarily put on ice a petition to force a vote on whether the province should quit Canada. Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, as well as a handful of other First Nations, is challenging the constitutionality of Alberta’s citizen-initiated referendum process, saying its use by separatists violates treaty rights. Orlagh O’Kelly, a lawyer for Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, told an Edmonton court that an injunction is appropriate because there’s no rush to hold a vote, nor is there an “unbridled right to petition to break up Canada.” Instead, O’Kelly said, Alberta’s process is the “legislative legitimization … of what we call the tyranny of the minority.” The hearing, which is scheduled to last multiple days,…
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