Premier Danielle Smith’s government is putting nine questions to a province wide referendum on October 19, including proposals to restrict social services for some immigrants. Other questions delve into the Constitution, for example asking whether Alberta should open negotiations with the rest of Canada to abolish the Senate and to give provinces the power to appoint superior court judges. We also have a possible citizen initiative referenda regarding Alberta separation.

Are referendums legally binding or as Margaret Thatcher once said in 1975, with reference to a proposed referendum on Britain’s membership in the European Union, that referendums sacrificed parliamentary sovereignty to political expediency. “Perhaps the late Lord Attlee was right,” she went on to observe, “when he said that the referendum was a device of dictators and demagogues.”

Many scholars suggest referendums are inherently problematic because they are so vulnerable to populism, captive interests, and the ochlocracy (i.e. government by the mob) that Aristotle warned was the greatest threat to democracy. James Madison, having studied Aristotle, described direct democracy as the “tyranny of the majority”.

What is the legal effect of a successful citizen led referendum petition?

If a referendum is held, whether government initiated or based on a citizen initiative petition, what is the legal effect of the voting result?