STATEMENT: ALBERTA UNIONS STAND WITH FIRST NATIONS AS SMITH ESCALATES ATTACKS JUNE 25, 2026

TREATY 6 TERRITORY – Alberta’s largest worker organization has released a statement of solidarity with First Nations leaders in their battle to oppose separatism and protect treaty rights.

“Premier Danielle Smith and her separatist allies have responded to court victories won by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, and the Blackfoot Confederacy by attempting to demonize First Nations. The Premier’s recent verbal attacks have led to a notable increase in racism and hatred directed against First Nation groups and individuals.”

Most critically, the Smith government has threatened to arrest First Nations members for engaging in non-violent civil disobedience — a tactic the AFL defends as “a vital democratic tool” when petitions, lobbying, and rallies fail to address systemic injustice.

AFL President Gil McGowan called on non-Indigenous Albertans to respond:

“By standing up for their treaty rights, First Nations have been standing up for the majority of Albertans who oppose separatism. They’ve been standing up for all of us by standing up for themselves. In the face of bullying and threats from the Premier’s office, it’s time for the rest of us to stand up with them.”

The AFL is a coalition of 26 unions representing about 170,000 Alberta workers.