{"id":105507,"date":"2026-06-08T09:37:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=105507"},"modified":"2026-06-08T09:37:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:37:02","slug":"albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberta&#8217;s Smith says law will be enforced if separation vote spurs civil disobedience"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the law will be enforced if First Nations communities engage in civil disobedience over her government&#8217;s separation referendum. At an unrelated news conference in Calgary Friday, she said: &#8220;I hope it doesn&#8217;t come to that.&#8221; On Oct. 19, Albertans will vote on whether they want to stay in Canada or start the process to hold a second, binding referendum on quitting the country. First Nations leaders across the province have been pushing back against talk of secession, and Smith&#8217;s decision to put it on a ballot. Treaty 8 Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi, representing First Nations across the West, said Thursday if necessary, they may get in the way of industry or take the fight against Smith\u2019s separation vote to highways. &#8220;There can be no decisions&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F06%2F08%2Falbertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the law will be enforced if First Nations communities engage in civil disobedience over her government&#8217;s separation referendum. At an unrelated news conference in Calgary Friday, she said: &#8220;I hope it doesn&#8217;t come to that.&#8221; On Oct. 19, Albertans will vote on whether they want to stay in Canada or start the process to hold a second, binding referendum on quitting the country. First Nations leaders across the province have been pushing back against talk of secession, and Smith&#8217;s decision to put it on a ballot. Treaty 8 Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi, representing First Nations across the West, said Thursday if necessary, they may get in the way of industry or take the fight against Smith\u2019s separation vote to highways. &#8220;There can be no decisions... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F06%2F08%2Falbertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2%2F\">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-105507","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-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Alberta&#039;s Smith says law will be enforced if separation vote spurs civil disobedience - 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\/06\/08\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alberta&#039;s Smith says law will be enforced if separation vote spurs civil disobedience - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the law will be enforced if First Nations communities engage in civil disobedience over her government&#8217;s separation referendum. At an unrelated news conference in Calgary Friday, she said: &#8220;I hope it doesn&#8217;t come to that.&#8221; On Oct. 19, Albertans will vote on whether they want to stay in Canada or start the process to hold a second, binding referendum on quitting the country. First Nations leaders across the province have been pushing back against talk of secession, and Smith&#8217;s decision to put it on a ballot. Treaty 8 Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi, representing First Nations across the West, said Thursday if necessary, they may get in the way of industry or take the fight against Smith\u2019s separation vote to highways. &#8220;There can be no decisions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-06-08T13:37:02+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=\"4 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\\\/06\\\/08\\\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/08\\\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Alberta&#8217;s Smith says law will be enforced if separation vote spurs civil disobedience\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-08T13:37:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/08\\\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":709,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/08\\\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/08\\\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Alberta's Smith says law will be enforced if separation vote spurs civil disobedience - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-08T13:37:02+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/08\\\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/08\\\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/08\\\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Alberta&#8217;s Smith says law will be enforced if separation vote spurs civil disobedience\"}]},{\"@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":"Alberta's Smith says law will be enforced if separation vote spurs civil disobedience - 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\/06\/08\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Alberta's Smith says law will be enforced if separation vote spurs civil disobedience - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the law will be enforced if First Nations communities engage in civil disobedience over her government&#8217;s separation referendum. At an unrelated news conference in Calgary Friday, she said: &#8220;I hope it doesn&#8217;t come to that.&#8221; On Oct. 19, Albertans will vote on whether they want to stay in Canada or start the process to hold a second, binding referendum on quitting the country. First Nations leaders across the province have been pushing back against talk of secession, and Smith&#8217;s decision to put it on a ballot. Treaty 8 Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi, representing First Nations across the West, said Thursday if necessary, they may get in the way of industry or take the fight against Smith\u2019s separation vote to highways. &#8220;There can be no decisions","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-06-08T13:37:02+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":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"Alberta&#8217;s Smith says law will be enforced if separation vote spurs civil disobedience","datePublished":"2026-06-08T13:37:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\/"},"wordCount":709,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\/","name":"Alberta's Smith says law will be enforced if separation vote spurs civil disobedience - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-06-08T13:37:02+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/albertas-smith-says-law-will-be-enforced-if-separation-vote-spurs-civil-disobedience-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Alberta&#8217;s Smith says law will be enforced if separation vote spurs civil disobedience"}]},{"@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\/105507","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=105507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105508,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105507\/revisions\/105508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}