A judge has granted a month-long stay preventing Alberta’s chief electoral officer from certifying the results of a petition to force a referendum on a proposal for Alberta to separate from Canada.

Justice Shaina Leonard’s ruling on Friday afternoon also prevents Stay Free Alberta, the group behind the petition, from referring the matter to Justice Minister Mickey Amery once signatures are submitted.

The decision follows an application from two of three First Nations groups who say they believe the petition process threatens treaty rights. The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) and the Blackfoot Confederacy have been seeking a stay on the petition campaign pending a final ruling.

(Jeff Rath, a lawyer for Mitch Sylvestre, the lead organizer of the Stay Free Alberta petition) said, “I believe that the Speaker of the legislature now needs to get involved, because I think the idea that a Court of King’s Bench justice can issue a stay or what amounts to an injunction order against an officer of the legislature is one of the most remarkable things that I've ever seen."