Lawyers for the separatist group Stay Free Alberta appeared in court Thursday to request a stay of a ruling that found their referendum petition should never have been issued, arguing that the economic momentum of independence was simply too strong to pause for a technicality like the law.

"You can't put a price on freedom, which is fortunate, because we haven't," said a spokesperson, gesturing at a one-page business plan whose first line read "Step 1: leave" and whose second line read "Step 2: be richer somehow." The plan did not include a Step 3, which sources described as the part most Albertans had questions about.

Last month a judge ruled that the petition was improperly granted and that Premier Danielle Smith's government had neglected its legal duty to consult First Nations — a finding the group characterized as "red tape" and "the precise kind of overreach we are leaving Ottawa to escape," apparently unaware that the ruling came from Alberta.

Pressed on the economic modelling underpinning a sovereign Alberta, the spokesperson produced a graph in which a line went up. Asked what the axes measured, he confirmed that the line went up. "We've already spent the prosperity," the lawyer added, "so technically the only fiscally responsible move now is to win."

The province, for its part, has maintained that it both fully supports the right of Albertans to determine their future and would prefer that future arrive after the courts have stopped paying attention. A government source described the duty to consult First Nations as "something we take extremely seriously" and "something we will get to," in that order.

The court has reserved its decision. Stay Free Alberta has reserved a conference centre, a commemorative coin design, and the moral high ground, none of which are refundable.