A trailer with an Alberta separatist ad sits just off Highway 2, about an hour south of Edmonton, April 16.Megan Albu/The Globe and Mail
A former federal minister who helped create the Clarity Act is warning Canadians not to give separatists in Alberta space to gain traction.
Instead, Stéphane Dion – who was recruited as intergovernmental affairs minister by Jean Chrétien after the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum – says the government, as well as individual Canadians need to be relentless in making the case to Albertans for staying in Canada.
“We should not accept this exorbitant concession to the separatist mentality, which is that we are 10 egotistical provinces, and what is happening in a province is not the business of other provinces,” Mr. Dion said in an interview on Wednesday.
“That’s a terrible mistake.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has announced that her government will add a question on secession to a previously scheduled referendum on Oct. 19, which is largely centred on immigration. The new question will ask voters whether Alberta should remain in Canada or start the legal process to hold a binding, second referendum on separation.
In the 1995 Quebec referendum, 50.58 per cent voted no and 49.42 per cent voted yes.
Mr. Dion left a career as a political scientist in Quebec to become intergovernmental affairs minister under Mr. Chrétien in 1996, a year after the sovereignty referendum.
He had a lead in developing the Clarity Act enacted in 2000. The legislation sets out rules for provinces seeking to leave Canada, and has been part of the discussion around Alberta’s secession question announcement. The act says that any referendum on separation must have a clear question and would require a “clear majority” to facilitate separation.
The new question added to the Alberta fall referendum reads: “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?”
The federal government has said the Clarity Act is not germane to the current situation because voters in Alberta are being asked to decide whether they will have a direct referendum on leaving the country.
Mr. Dion subsequently became environment minister, Liberal Party leader, and then a foreign affairs minister under Justin Trudeau. He later served as a diplomat, with ambassadorial posts in Germany, the European Union, France and Monaco.
Mr. Dion, now a professor at the University of Montreal, said that while only Albertans will vote in the October referendum, “it’s a matter for all Canadians because it is our country.”
“It’s a matter for me as a Quebecker. It’s a matter for Newfoundlanders. It’s a matter for everyone. All Canadians should say to Albertans how much we are proud to share the same country with them.”
Mr. Dion said he is pleased with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s approach to the issue so far, in which Mr. Carney has focused on his government’s efforts to engage with Alberta, working on issues of interest to the province.
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Mr. Dion said he hopes MPs across the House of Commons will work closely together on making the case for Canada, and that there is a place for former prime ministers Stephen Harper and Jean Chrétien to get involved.
But he said that Ms. Smith has made a mistake in lowering the bar for having a petition for a referendum on separation.
“The mistake is done. The referendum will happen. I don’t think there is a lot of interest now to complain about the referendum,” he said. “It’s important to win the referendum, that Albertans will be strongly saying, `We have had enough of this odd conversation about possible separation.’”
Mr. Dion on Wednesday attended a conference of Canadian and American leaders in Ottawa, focused on bilateral co-operation with the United States.
In his interview with The Globe and Mail, Mr. Dion also said he was sorry to see former environment minister Steven Guilbeault announce his exit from politics on Wednesday.
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Mr. Guilbeault, who has represented a Montreal riding since 2019, previously resigned from Mr. Carney’s cabinet over the government’s energy accord with Alberta. He has now said he will leave politics entirely this summer to fight climate change through a different approach.
“I was hoping he would stay and try to influence the government as much as possible,” Mr. Dion said. “I don’t question his reasons. I’m sure he had good reasons, but I think it’s sad.”
Mr. Dion had called for a carbon price when he was Liberal leader between 2006 and 2008.
Mr. Dion said he is not criticizing Mr. Carney, adding the Prime Minister is doing more on climate change than he thinks Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre would do if he had the job.
However, he added, “Mr. Carney is doing less than Mr. Trudeau, and that’s very sad.”