Albertans will vote on whether the province should remain a part of Canada when they head to the polls this fall.
They will also decide if a second referendum on Alberta’s independence should happen in the future.
Premier Danielle Smith says her government is putting a new question on an Oct. 19 provincial referendum that covers sentiments of both the successful pro-federalist Forever Canadian petition and the struck-down Stay Free Alberta separation petition.
The question: “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 wording captures what Smith says is a way to hear from Albertans on both sides of the separation debate while abiding by a legally binding Court of King’s Bench decision that ruled a previous separatist question unconstitutional.
Earlier this month, a judge struck down Stay Free Alberta’s petition because the group failed to consult First Nations.
In a televised address Thursday evening, Smith said that ruling “fundamentally misinterprets the nature of the duty to consult.”
“I want to be clear. I support Alberta remaining in Canada. That is how I would vote on separation in a provincial referendum. It is also the position of my government, and my caucus,” she said.
“However, despite my personal support … I am deeply troubled by an erroneous court decision that interferes with the democratic rights of hundreds of thousands of Albertans.”
Smith said a referendum to vote for another referendum would allow her government to take the legal steps toward a second separation vote without falling under the recent court ruling. The outcome of the fall vote would not trigger separation, she added.
The question would also avoid a months or years-long court appeal process Smith’s government began shortly after the ruling was announced.
“Kicking the can down the road only prolongs a very emotional and important debate, and muzzling the voices of hundreds of thousands of Albertans wanting to be heard is unjustifiable in a free and democratic society,” she said.
“It’s time to have a vote, understand the will of Albertans on this subject, and move on.”
Separatist group condemns Smith’s message
Stay Free Alberta legal counsel Jeff Rath says his group was “nauseated” by Smith’s address to the province.
He accused the government of avoiding a binary ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question on Alberta’s standing with Canada and questioned the future of Smith’s premiership after her address.
“It’s a cynical abuse of people in the province of Alberta, who she promised a referendum on a clear question,” he told CTV News Edmonton.
“We almost doubled the number of signatures required, and now Danielle has stabbed all of those people in the back by saying, ‘Oh, I guess we’ll just have a referendum on a referendum.’”
He says people on his side of the debate are “incandescently angry” and believe Smith has lost “moral authority to lead the province of Alberta.”
“I think that this may well have been an existential moment for her premiership.”
Legislative committee approved Forever Canadian petition hours prior
MLAs part of a review committee approved a referendum petition that would ask Albertans if the province should remain in Canada hours before Smith’s address.
The committee was tasked with reviewing the next steps for Thomas Lukaszuk’s Forever Canadian petition question, which amassed more than 400,000 signatures in support of staying in Canada. It was initially unclear whether there would be a provincewide vote on the matter.
The United Conservative Party members outnumbered the New Democrats in the group, swaying a Thursday vote delayed the day before by a prematurely released statement.
In the Thursday meeting, NDP member Rakhi Pancholi raised concerns of a recent data breach that saw the release of more than three million Albertans’ private information leaked, saying a referendum shouldn’t be held until the investigation into the breach has been completed.
Following the meeting, Pancholi accused the UCP of “courting separatists.”
“The premier is very aware that it is the separatists in this province who got her the UCP leadership, and she owed them a debt,” the MLA said.
First Nations, Forever Canadian group condemn referendum addition
Shortly after the review committee’s approval of a new referendum question, Treaty 6 First Nations condemned the move as the furthering of a “separatist regime” and vowed to continue fighting it alongside Treaty 7 and 8 First Nations.
“The Confederacy continues to oppose this illegal separatist agenda. Any effort to separate, including any form of referendum, is a breach of the Treaty relationship established through Treaty No. 6 and protected under the constitution,” read a statement from the group.
After Smith’s address, Lukaszuk told media a referendum on another referendum would only delay economic investments the province is currently searching for by way of a pipeline memorandum of understanding with the federal government.
“What foreign business would want to invest in a province that is going to hold a referendum on holding a referendum and possibly separate from Canada, but even more so, what business would want to invest their capital in a province where, if you lose a court case, the premier will override it?” he said.
Lukaszuk says the Forever Canadian group intends to “fight vigorously” to prevent a second referendum by getting Albertans to come out to the polls informed.
With a question on staying in Canada now slated for the ballot, Albertans will be voting on 10 immigration and constitution-related questions this fall.
The other nine questions, which ask for a mandate on issues relating to Alberta’s jurisdiction in matters of immigration and the judicial system, were announced earlier this year.
Smith is set to hold a press conference on Friday at 12:30 p.m.
