{"id":103553,"date":"2026-04-08T08:27:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=103553"},"modified":"2026-04-08T08:27:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:27:24","slug":"court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\/","title":{"rendered":"Court of King\u2019s Bench hears Sturgeon Lake\u2019s arguments for separatist petition injunction"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation (SLCN) was in court Tuesday, April 7, in an effort to stop the collection of signatures for a citizen-initiated referendum on Alberta independence. SLCN filed a lawsuit in January against the provincial government, the federal government and Alberta\u2019s chief electoral officer for permitting the petition process to proceed. It\u2019s one of four legal challenges launched by First Nations against the province facilitating an independence referendum. \u201cIt didn\u2019t need to get to this point, but now that we\u2019re here, we really want to express to all governments that First Nations aren\u2019t going anywhere,\u201d SLCN Chief Sheldon Sunshine told reporters outside of the downtown Edmonton courthouse where the case is being heard. The Treaty 8 First Nation argues… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation (SLCN) was in court Tuesday, April 7, in an effort to stop the collection of signatures for a citizen-initiated referendum on Alberta independence. SLCN filed a lawsuit in January against the provincial government, the federal government and Alberta\u2019s chief electoral officer for permitting the petition process to proceed. It\u2019s one of four legal challenges launched by First Nations against the province facilitating an independence referendum. \u201cIt didn\u2019t need to get to this point, but now that we\u2019re here, we really want to express to all governments that First Nations aren\u2019t going anywhere,\u201d SLCN Chief Sheldon Sunshine told reporters outside of the downtown Edmonton courthouse where the case is being heard. The Treaty 8 First Nation argues... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nCourt of King\u2019s Bench hears Sturgeon Lake\u2019s arguments for separatist petition injunction - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Court of King\u2019s Bench hears Sturgeon Lake\u2019s arguments for separatist petition injunction - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation (SLCN) was in court Tuesday, April 7, in an effort to stop the collection of signatures for a citizen-initiated referendum on Alberta independence. SLCN filed a lawsuit in January against the provincial government, the federal government and Alberta\u2019s chief electoral officer for permitting the petition process to proceed. It\u2019s one of four legal challenges launched by First Nations against the province facilitating an independence referendum. \u201cIt didn\u2019t need to get to this point, but now that we\u2019re here, we really want to express to all governments that First Nations aren\u2019t going anywhere,\u201d SLCN Chief Sheldon Sunshine told reporters outside of the downtown Edmonton courthouse where the case is being heard. The Treaty 8 First Nation argues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-08T12:27:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/08\\\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/08\\\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Court of King\u2019s Bench hears Sturgeon Lake\u2019s arguments for separatist petition injunction\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-08T12:27:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/08\\\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1133,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/08\\\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/08\\\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\\\/\",\"name\":\"Court of King\u2019s Bench hears Sturgeon Lake\u2019s arguments for separatist petition injunction - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-08T12:27:24+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/08\\\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/08\\\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/08\\\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Court of King\u2019s Bench hears Sturgeon Lake\u2019s arguments for separatist petition injunction\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Court of King\u2019s Bench hears Sturgeon Lake\u2019s arguments for separatist petition injunction - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Court of King\u2019s Bench hears Sturgeon Lake\u2019s arguments for separatist petition injunction - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation (SLCN) was in court Tuesday, April 7, in an effort to stop the collection of signatures for a citizen-initiated referendum on Alberta independence. SLCN filed a lawsuit in January against the provincial government, the federal government and Alberta\u2019s chief electoral officer for permitting the petition process to proceed. It\u2019s one of four legal challenges launched by First Nations against the province facilitating an independence referendum. \u201cIt didn\u2019t need to get to this point, but now that we\u2019re here, we really want to express to all governments that First Nations aren\u2019t going anywhere,\u201d SLCN Chief Sheldon Sunshine told reporters outside of the downtown Edmonton courthouse where the case is being heard. The Treaty 8 First Nation argues","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-04-08T12:27:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"Court of King\u2019s Bench hears Sturgeon Lake\u2019s arguments for separatist petition injunction","datePublished":"2026-04-08T12:27:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\/"},"wordCount":1133,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\/","name":"Court of King\u2019s Bench hears Sturgeon Lake\u2019s arguments for separatist petition injunction - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-04-08T12:27:24+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/court-of-kings-bench-hears-sturgeon-lakes-arguments-for-separatist-petition-injunction\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Court of King\u2019s Bench hears Sturgeon Lake\u2019s arguments for separatist petition injunction"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103554,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103553\/revisions\/103554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}