A First Nation in Alberta has said that a separatist push for the province to secede from Canada is “consummately irresponsible and dishonourable” and should be shut down, arguing in court that a proposed referendum would violate their treaty rights.

A minority of residents of the oil-rich province have long argued that the province’s woes are due to the structure of payments to the federal government and a perceived inability to get their vast fossil fuel reserves to market.

In recent months, separatists have seized on the sentiment and collected nearly 180,000 signatures to request a referendum. But the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, near Edmonton, has asked a court to halt the campaign.

The hearing, which began on Tuesday, is expected to last three days.

Last year, Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith, reduced the number of signatures required for citizens bring a constitutional referendum, dropping it from 588,000 to roughly 178,000. The provincial government also changed how citizen-initiated referendums worked, removing powers from Alberta’s chief electoral officer. Now, referendums can pose questions that would run afoul of the Canadian constitution.

The group behind the push to secede, Stay Free Alberta, says it has received the required number of signatures, a month before the cutoff date.

They hope their question – “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be part of Canada and become an independent state?” – will be added to a planned referendum in October, which will also include questions on immigration, healthcare and the country’s constitution.

Sturgeon Lake, one of 39 nations which signed a key treaty with Canada in 1899, argues that the province of Alberta, the federal government and the province’s chief electoral officer have failed to uphold key provisions of that agreement.

“Alberta has treated [Sturgeon Lake Cree First Nation] as though they are chattel on the land, merely an afterthought in forced negotiations, not the first step in any potential secession,” the First Nation said in its court filing. “Alberta has no right to secede from Canada and no right to take Treaty No. 8 territory.”

The First Nation is asking a court to reinstate the rule that a citizen-initiative petition must follow the constitution – and to halt the current drive for signatures.

“In 2026, Alberta’s actions are not only illegal, but they are also consummately irresponsible and dishonourable.”

The First Nation has also warned the current push has invited the threat of influence of foreign actors and a vote to leave Canada “will enable foreign interference from the most powerful nation to the south”.

Late last year, separatist activists held covert meetings with and members of Donald Trump’s administration – a move one provincial premier called “treason”.

The judge overseeing the case is expected to deliver a ruling on 2 May – the deadline for signature collection.

The Wireless music festival has been cancelled after the artist formerly known as Kanye West was banned from entering the UK amid a deepening political row over his previous antisemitic statements.

West, who is legally known as Ye, made an application to travel to the UK via an Electronic Travel Authorisation on Monday but it has been blocked by officials.

A spokesperson for the festival confirmed it would no longer go ahead in July after the government decision was announced, and said refunds would be issued to those who had already bought tickets.

The statement read: “The Home Office has withdrawn Ye’s ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom. As a result, Wireless festival is cancelled and refunds will be issued to all ticket holders.

“As with every Wireless festival, multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking Ye and no concerns were highlighted at the time.Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognise the real and personal impact these issues have had.

“As Ye said today, he acknowledges that words alone are not enough, and in spite of this still hopes to be given the opportunity to begin a conversation with the Jewish community in the UK.”

It is understood that the application was initially granted online but was rescinded by Home Office ministers, after review, on the grounds that his presence in the UK would not be conducive to the public good.

The rapper has been criticised for making antisemitic remarks, including voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler. Last year he released a song called Heil Hitler, a few months after advertising a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website.

Ye took out a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal in January apologising for his antisemitic behaviour and attributing his inflammatory actions to his bipolar disorder. In a statement on Tuesday, he offered to “meet and listen” to members of the UK’s Jewish community.

Over the weekend, Keir Starmer, joined criticism of the festival, saying it was “deeply concerning” that Ye had been booked to perform “despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of nazism”.

The decision to ban Ye left the festival organisers Wireless with three slots to fill, with the event just three months away. The ban came on the day presales began for this summer’s events, which were already competing in a busy field of London day festivals.

The organisers’ approach of using one A-list name to headline three back-to-back events meant options for a new artist were limited. Many artists will have had their summer schedule sorted months ago, so finding a replacement would have been complex.

On Monday evening, Melvin Benn, the managing director of Festival Republic, which promotes Wireless, said Ye “intended to come in and perform”, adding that organisers were “not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs that are currently played on the radio stations in our country and the streaming platforms in our country and listened to and enjoyed by millions”.

Downing Street faced pressure on Tuesday afternoon to say whether Ye would be allowed to perform. Asked to clarify Ye’s visa status at lunchtime, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “We’ve been clear that his permission to enter the UK is under review as we speak. All available options remain on the table.”

He added: “Decisions are taken on a case-by-case basis in line with the law and the evidence available, but where individuals pose a threat to public safety or seek to spread extremism, the government has not hesitated to act, and that includes cancelling permission to enter this country for extremist preachers and far-right figures.”

Speaking before the ban was publicised, Phil Rosenberg, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said the group would be willing to meet Ye if he pulled out of Wireless.

“It has been less than a year since Kanye West released a song entitled Heil Hitler, the culmination of three years of appalling antisemitism. He also made a number of deeply offensive comments about the black community, saying that the 400-year experience of slavery was ‘like a choice’,” Rosenberg said.

“Even while claiming remorse today, his latest album includes a track first released last year with the abhorrent title Gas Chamber.”

The rapper joins a list of American cultural figures who have at times been banned from entering the UK.

Snoop Dogg was denied entry in 2007 after an incident a year earlier at Heathrow, which involved members of his entourage. He had to cancel a tour with P Diddy as a result. The ban was lifted in 2008.

In the same year Snoop Dogg’s ban was lifted, the American television personality Martha Stewart was barred from entering the UK because of her conviction in 2004 of several offences related to an illicit share deal.

Tyler, the Creator was banned for four years by then home secretary, Theresa May, in 2015 because of his lyrics. May used anti-terrorism legislation to block his entry, claiming his music “encourages violence and intolerance of homosexuality” and “fosters hatred with views that seek to provoke others to terrorist acts”.

The restriction was lifted in 2019, and he told the Guardian he felt as if he had “won some invisible fight”.