Premier Danielle Smith promised Thursday to pose a referendum question about whether Alberta should remain in Canada or initiate the separation process.Todd Korol/Reuters
Premier Danielle Smith on Thursday said her government will hold a referendum on whether Alberta should remain in Canada, after months of pressure from separatist activists, including some from within her own party, to put independence to a provincewide vote.
But her proposed referendum, planned for Oct. 19, will not ask a yes-or-no question. Instead, it will ask voters whether they want Alberta to remain in Canada, or start the legal process to hold a binding, second referendum on separation.
Ms. Smith, in a televised address Thursday evening, justified putting independence on the fall referendum ballot by arguing a judge made an error last week in ruling that a citizen-led petition aimed at forcing a separation referendum was unconstitutional. Separatist leaders say roughly 301,000 residents signed that petition.
“I, as Premier, will not have a legal mistake by a single judge silence the voices of hundreds of thousands of Albertans,” Ms. Smith said, according to a copy of her prepared remarks distributed to reporters before her speech aired.
“It’s time to have a vote, understand the will of Albertans on this subject, and move on.”
Ms. Smith said she and her colleagues in the governing United Conservative Party favour staying in Canada. But her willingness to bend to separatists demanding a secession question will further fuel federalists who have, for the past year, argued Ms. Smith is unwilling or unable to stamp out the independence inclinations within her own party.
It will also feed broader uncertainty about the country’s unity. In Quebec, the opposition Parti Québécois has also promised to hold an independence referendum if it wins the provincial election this fall.
Alberta’s referendum would mark the third time a provincial government has asked its residents to vote on leaving the country. The first two were in Quebec, in 1980 and 1995.
Ms. Smith’s proposed question may further muddy the waters and extend the debate over separation in Alberta. She said the additional referendum question will ask: “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”
Sam Blackett, the Premier’s spokesman, clarified that the referendum question is multiple choice and voters will be asked to select which element they support.
Ms. Smith said that, should Albertans reject staying in Canada, the referendum would jump-start work toward holding another secession referendum, with binding results.
She said this structure skirts the ruling of the judge, Justice Shaina Leonard, who struck down the petition. Justice Leonard’s decision said the government must consult with First Nations before an independence vote, because a binding secession vote would affect their treaty rights.
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“Because this proposed referendum question does not directly trigger separation, but if successful would ask Alberta’s government to commence the legal process necessary to hold a binding referendum on the matter, the recent court ruling would not be applicable, and the referendum question I outlined could proceed,” Ms. Smith said.
The Premier previously announced a referendum for October with a ballot containing nine questions related to immigration and Alberta’s relationship with the federal government.
Ms. Smith has spent years railing against Ottawa. She accused Justin Trudeau, while he was prime minister, of stifling Alberta’s prosperity through environmental regulations for electricity and the energy industry that she argued infringed on provincial jurisdiction.
And a year ago, she threatened an “unprecedented national unity crisis” if the eventual winner of the 2025 federal election did not advance policies that suited the oil and gas industry. The UCP last year changed the rules governing citizen-led petitions in Alberta, making it easier for separatists to get their question on the ballot.
The Premier’s relationship with the federal government has thawed with Prime Minister Mark Carney at the helm. Now she champions an energy deal the pair signed last week as proof Alberta can thrive in Canada, so long as the federal government’s regulations reflect her province’s perspective.
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Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Thursday that his party will campaign for Alberta to stay in Canada. He would do the same in Quebec if the separatist Parti Québécois wins the province’s next election, he said.
“I want a strong Alberta within a united Canada, and all Conservatives will be campaigning for Canadian unity in Alberta,” he told reporters at an unrelated news conference.
Separately, British Columbia Premier David Eby said Alberta’s independence movement will cast a shadow over the next meeting of the western premiers, hosted by Ms. Smith.
“I fundamentally disagree with her approach to Canadian unity,” he said.
“There is a certain irony, I think, in having a western premiers’ meeting and having one of the premiers, bluntly, who appears to be setting the table to leave the country, and so you know that’s an awkwardness in the room for sure,” he told reporters in Victoria Thursday.
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Meanwhile, strategists, former politicians, academics and policy wonks are crystalizing plans to launch organizations aimed at shoring up support for the pro-Canada vote in Alberta.
Monte Solberg, the chief executive of New West Public Affairs and a former Conservative federal cabinet minister, said Thursday his firm is ready to take up that mantle.
“We’re off to the races,” he said before Ms. Smith’s address. The team will include voices from corporations, politics and small towns across the province. “There’s a lot of people who just feel this silence is not indicative of how the public feels, so we’re going to help them find a voice.”
Jared Wesley, a political scientist at the University of Alberta, and conservative political activist Ken Boessenkool are organizing a pop-up think tank, championing the province’s role in the country. Former Alberta finance minister Travis Toews, University of Calgary economics professor Trevor Tombe and journalist Jen Gerson will be among those hosting salons and publishing analysis, Mr. Boessenkool said.
The Premier, in her television address, spoke directly to those who are unsatisfied with the pace of change from the federal government.
“I want you to know that I empathize with you and understand why you feel that way,” she said. “You are justifiably frustrated and angry with Ottawa. You are proud and loyal Albertans that have watched our province be taken advantage of repeatedly over past decades – and you want it to stop."
She added: “But I ask you to please consider joining me to vote for Alberta to remain in Canada, and not give up on our beautiful country just as we’re gaining respect and the tide has turned in our favour.
“Not when our fellow Canadians – even those that may support different political parties – are nonetheless supporting Alberta’s vision for a prosperous, energy-rich nation, with strong provinces building a Canada we can be proud of again.”
With a report from Justine Hunter