Indigenous leaders are forcefully denouncing Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s rhetoric inviting the idea of separating from Canada. The province includes wide swaths of treaty territory established through agreements with the federal government. First Nations leaders say there is no way to even enter the conversation of separation without first consulting with the tribes. The unprecedented talk of separation comes as President Donald Trump insists on promoting the unlikely scenario of the U.S. annexing Canada. We’ll learn about First Nations authority in Alberta and the sovereignty questions the separation discussions raise.

GUESTS

Chief Sheldon Sunshine (Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation)

Janice Makokis (Saddle Lake Cree Nation), assistant professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Windsor

Matthew Wildcat (Ermineskin Cree Nation), assistant professor and director of Indigenous Governance in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta

Steve Newcomb (Shawnee and Lenape), author of “Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery” and co-founder and director of the Indigenous Law Institute

Wilton Littlechild (Cree), International Chief for Treaty Six Confederacy and former commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada