Prime Minister Mark Carney makes a statement in the shuttered Library of Parliament on Parliament Hill last week. Mr. Carney says Albertans had no say in whether an independence referendum should be held when they voted in the last provincial election.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Alberta’s planned vote on separating from Canada is unhelpful and undemocratic, as he warned against repeating the mistakes of Britain’s Brexit referendum.
On Monday, Mr. Carney intensified his criticism of Premier Danielle Smith’s plan to hold a vote this fall on whether Alberta should remain in Canada, or start the legal process to hold a binding, second referendum on separation. After months of pressure from pro-separation activists, she confirmed last week that she will add the question about the province’s future in the federation to an Oct. 19 vote.
“Is it helpful to ask these fundamental questions? No, it’s not helpful. Of course it’s not,” Mr. Carney said. “Is it the democratic will of Albertans? Did they vote for this in the last provincial election? No, they didn’t.”
The Prime Minister pointed out that separating from Canada was never part of Ms. Smith’s election pitch in the last provincial vote or part of her United Conservative Party’s campaign platform. During a brief press conference in an Ottawa suburb, Mr. Carney avoided disclosing the details of his conversations with Ms. Smith but added: “The Premier doesn’t always take my advice.”
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He said that he would be campaigning to ensure Alberta remains a part of Canada but said it’s an issue that needs to be carefully handled.
“There’s tremendous strengths that Canada brings to Alberta, and Alberta brings to Canada,” he said. “We are absolutely stronger together, we’re better together.”
In a statement sent in response to the Prime Minister’s comments, Ms. Smith said she also wants Canada to remain united. However, she cautioned against too strong a federal intervention.
“This is a decision for Albertans – not Ottawa – and Albertans’ frustrations have been fuelled by the last 10 years of disastrous policies from Ottawa under his predecessor, Justin Trudeau,” Ms. Smith said.
Later in the day at the western premiers’ conference in Kananaskis, Alta., Ms. Smith told reporters that she has enjoyed working with Mr. Carney since he took office, and said the two are demonstrating that Canada and Alberta can work together on shared interests.
“He has talked about how we need to address these legitimate grievances and I think that’s the right tone for him to take,” Ms. Smith said.
Public opinion polling suggests that about one quarter of Albertans would vote in favour of quitting Canada. How that mood could shift during the six-month campaign leading up to an October vote is a key question.
Prior to the British referendum on leaving the European Union, the Remain group also led in the polls. But that gap narrowed as the vote neared and the Leave side ultimately won with a narrow 52 per cent of the vote.
Former British prime minister David Cameron called the 2016 vote after pressure from some in his political base. He campaigned to stay in the union and resigned after losing that vote. Negotiations to sever ties between Britain and the EU took more than four years.
The echoes of Brexit now loom large in the debate around Alberta separation, and in his Monday comments, Mr. Carney made a direct link between the two secessionist movements and his experience as Bank of England governor during that referendum.
Based on his experience in Britain, he warned against falling for any pro-separation argument that contends a vote to leave is without negative consequences and would strengthen Alberta’s hand in negotiations with the federal government.
“That is a very dangerous bluff,” he said. “They’re still, 10 years later, trying to undo what people didn’t think they were voting for, but what they ended up having.”
– With reports from Matthew Scace and Paul Waldie