Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says courts should not be gatekeepers on independence questions

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says anyone seeking an independence referendum should not have "gatekeepers," like the courts, standing in their way.

Smith was asked about the independence question Saturday on her radio call-in show, weighing in for the first time after her government proposed legislation that would grind to a halt an ongoing court case over a proposed provincial vote to leave Canada.

She said giving Justice Minister Mickey Amery the power to be "permissive" about referendum questions, which is included in the new legislation, upholds democracy.

"Whether it's the chief electoral officer or the court, they seem to want to approve the ones they like and hold up the ones they don't like, and that's not democracy," Smith said.

Her comments came a day after Alberta Justice Colin Feasby said a separatist referendum question would go against the Charter, First Nations Treaty rights and the province's existing referendum law.

The separation question was referred to the courts by Alberta's chief electoral officer, Gordon McClure, this summer. McClure said at the time that he was just following the rules laid out for him, but Smith's government criticized him for creating red tape.

Feasby said in a Court of King's Bench decision Friday that Smith's United Conservative government's proposed law to change the rules in the middle of the game is undemocratic and undermines the administration of justice.

Smith, however, said Saturday that citizen-initiated referendums were never meant to have "a pile of gatekeepers" holding them back.

The UCP's bill, tabled Thursday, would make Feasby's court decision moot, should it pass into law.

The legislation also gives the separatist group, the Alberta Prosperity Project, the ability to re-apply to start collecting signatures for an independence referendum.

Amery said Thursday his bill provides a "reset," and the government doesn't want to see the courts delay direct democracy.

"If those seeking independence believe that they have the support for it, this is their chance to prove it," he told reporters before introducing the bill.

For months, Smith has said she supports a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.

She has not explicitly endorsed pulling the province out of Confederation — a move many in her party want her to make.