The Assembly of Treaty Chiefs representing Treaty No. 6, Treaty No. 7, and Treaty No. 8 territories unanimously passed a resolution Monday calling for an RCMP and Auditor General investigation into Premier Danielle Smith and members of her United Conservative Party government to determine whether their actions constitute treason under Section 46 of the Criminal Code of Canada.
The vote took place at a meeting on Treaty No. 7 Territory in Calgary on June 16. No First Nations coalition in Alberta has ever collectively demanded a treason investigation into a sitting premier.
The chiefs cite four grounds for the investigation: the intentional violation of Treaty obligations; the calling of a separation referendum in the face of what they describe as severe risks to Canada’s sovereignty and the Treaty relationship; failure to act on privacy rights violations affecting millions of people; and what the resolution calls “significant risks of foreign interference and influence.”
Section 46 of the Criminal Code covers high treason, including giving assistance to an enemy of Canada or transferring sensitive information to a foreign government without legal authority. The chiefs are asking the RCMP and Auditor General to determine whether Smith’s actions cross that line. Neither the RCMP nor the Auditor General had responded publicly as of Wednesday morning.
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The resolution points to a foundational commitment made at the time of the Treaty — the Northwest Mounted Police, now the RCMP, promised to protect First Nations and their territories, and the Crown guaranteed peace and goodwill between settler and Indigenous peoples as the basis for sharing the land. The chiefs argue that obligation runs to the RCMP today, and that protecting First Nations from sovereignty-threatening political action falls within it.
Monday’s resolution builds on prior escalation. In February, the AOTC passed a vote of non-confidence in Smith and the UCP, accusing the government of “a refusal to respond appropriately to the current political atmosphere” on Treaty territories. The chiefs said at the time the separatist agenda was generating unsafe conditions for Indigenous peoples by promoting racism and intolerance.
Eby raised the same charge in January, after the Alberta Prosperity Project claimed to have held meetings with senior US officials about a $500 billion line of credit for an independent Alberta. Describing such outreach to a foreign country as seeking help to break up Canada, Eby said “there’s an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is treason.”
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Smith committed to a separation referendum in a televised address on May 21, citing competing petitions — one to remain in Canada and one to leave — as justification. She has estimated the transition costs of separation at roughly $400 billion. Smith had not responded publicly to Monday’s resolution as of Wednesday morning.
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