Good morning. Danielle Smith says Alberta’s separation referendum reflects the will of the people, but the people beg to differ – more on that below, along with Europe’s record heatwave and Ozempic’s plummeting price. But first:
Today’s headlines
- Steven Guilbeault is expected to quit the Liberal caucus as early as Wednesday, sources say
- The Bank of Canada warns of a “low-hire, low-fire” job market that complicates its rate decisions
- Iran condemns U.S. strikes and begins restoring the internet after a long shutdown
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Danielle Smith the day after her primetime address to Alberta.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Alberta
The flip that flopped
Danielle Smith’s latest referendum gambit has appeased exactly no one – not the separatists hoping to hive off Alberta from the rest of Canada, not the federalists who’d much prefer to keep the country intact, not Smith’s fellow premiers or members of her own United Conservative Party, not Prime Minister Mark Carney or the province’s assorted business groups, not the First Nations that have repeatedly argued secession violates their treaty rights, and not the King’s Bench judge who sided with them earlier this month.
Smith has long maintained she favours “a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada,” and after the court tossed out the separatist petition that would have prompted a fall referendum, the Premier could’ve apologetically said her hands were tied. Instead, in a televised address on Thursday night, Smith waved off the ruling as “a legal mistake by a single judge” and revealed there’d be a different sort of vote come October. The question on the ballot will now read – please brace for bumpy syntax – “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?”
In announcing this referendum-on-a-referendum at some later date, Smith insisted she was heeding the demands of 700,000 constituents: the 300,000 who signed the Alberta Prosperity Project’s separatist petition, plus the 400,000 who signed Forever Canadian’s appeal for unity. “It’s time to have a vote, understand the will of Albertans on this subject, and move on,” she declared. But far from settling the matter, her decision has made everybody miserable – and they’ve all been lining up to take their shots at Smith. Here’s a look at the war of words over the past few days.
Smith says: “I am fiercely loyal to Alberta and Canada and will be voting for our province to remain in Confederation,” she posted on social media over the weekend. “Kicking the can down the road only prolongs an emotional and important debate.”
The separatists say: “A vote to have a vote is the literal definition of kicking the can down the road,” Cam Davies, leader of the pro-independence Republican Party of Alberta, countered in his own social media post. The separatist camp isn’t after a debate – they want a proper referendum on leaving Canada, and they want it now. Prosperity Project CEO Mitch Sylvestre told The Globe he felt “duped” by the Premier’s decision. Yesterday, he threatened to either make the UCP change the referendum question or else force a leadership review of Smith.
The federalists say: They’d rather not have a vote at all. “We didn’t ask for this,” contended Thomas Lukaszuk, Alberta’s former deputy premier, who organized the Forever Canadian campaign. “The fact is that the people signed the Forever Canadian petition to prevent a referendum from happening, because we knew the separatists were going to file.”
A pointed statement in Stony Plain, Alta.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
The Opposition says: The next five months will pit “neighbour against neighbour, and friend against friend, in a horrifically divisive process that will have no good outcome,” according to Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi.
Canada’s largest business association says: Division is bad for the bottom line. “Alberta’s prosperity and Canada’s economic success both depend on reducing barriers to growth and investment, not introducing new uncertainty,” Canadian Chamber of Commerce president Candace Laing wrote in a statement.
Carney says: The PM went full Socratic method on Monday in his most pointed remarks yet about the referendum. “Is it helpful to ask these fundamental questions? No, it’s not helpful. Of course it’s not helpful,” he told reporters. “Is it the democratic will of Albertans? Did they vote for this in the last provincial election? No, they didn’t. It wasn’t on the ballot paper. It wasn’t in the mandates or platforms of the governing party.”
The UCP says: Fair enough – and that’s why it won’t pick a side in the lead-up to the referendum. “We are not an independence party at this point in time,” acknowledged UCP President Rob Smith (no relation to the Premier). But he believes a majority of party members will vote against remaining in the country.
The polls say: Probably! A new Angus Reid survey found that 64 per cent of UCP voters supported starting the secession process. However, three in five Albertans want the province to stay where it is.
Smith says: Great – then it shall. On Friday, she positioned the referendum’s stay option as “a vote to remain in Canada [and] put an end to this debate.”
Quebec says: Probably not! The province’s sovereigntists lost badly in the 1980 referendum, but independence was back on the ballot 15 years later, and that time, they nearly won. Now, they’re eyeing another referendum after Quebec’s fall election – so a one-and-done vote on independence doesn’t seem like a very safe bet.
The Shot
‘Their one selfless act is a force multiplier.’
Surgical residents at Hamilton's McMaster University.Nick Iwanyshyn/The Globe and Mail
Any thoughts about donating your body to science? The medical students at McMaster University’s anatomy lab would love you to learn more about what that gift can do.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: Ottawa is temporarily suspending all visitor applications from Congo, Uganda and South Sudan residents over concerns about the widening Ebola outbreak.
Abroad: Britain smashed a century-old temperature record for the second time in 24 hours as a spring heatwave continued to scorch parts of Western Europe.
Health: The price of Ozempic is starting to plummet now that generic versions of Canada’s best-selling drug have hit pharmacy shelves.
Health? U.S. President Donald Trump had another check-up at Walter Reed yesterday – the fourth publicly disclosed medical exam of his second term.
Sports: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she had “no issue” with her country hosting Iran’s World Cup team after they moved their training base from the States.
Sports car: Ferrari just unveiled its first fully electric vehicle – but purists might miss that engine roar.