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OTTAWA -- Richard La Ferriere isn’t shy about sharing how he voted in Alberta’s referendum.
Although Referendum Day is not until Monday, La Ferriere has already cast his ballot, voting early before leaving on a family trip to Ottawa.
CTV News caught up with him as he walked the grounds of Parliament Hill with his family.
Not knowing at first that he was visiting from Alberta, we asked La Ferriere for his thoughts on the referendum. It didn’t take long for him to reveal how he voted on Question 10, which asks about staying in Canada or beginning the legal process to consider leaving.
He stated that he chose Option 2, which would set Alberta on the path toward a binding referendum on separation from Canada.
“Not because I want to separate,” he said, “but I want to make sure that Ottawa is at least listening to the West.”
La Ferriere said he initially struggled with the decision because he was “born a Canadian.”
But he said he also had to be honest with himself, ultimately concluding that the status quo is not working for Alberta.
“The West is not represented at all (in Ottawa),” La Ferriere said.
He pointed to the Senate, where Atlantic Canada has 30 seats compared with six for Alberta.
“You need to change that because you’ve got five million people in Alberta and you’ve got, what, 2.5 (million) in the Maritimes. It’s just not fair, right? And then equalization, you know, that’s another problem.”
His wife, Melody La Ferriere, echoed those concerns, saying she worries that Albertans’ grievances are dismissed by people in other parts of the country and by the media.
“It’s not a bunch of hillbillies out there,” she said. “It’s a bunch of hardworking Canadians that are working hard every day for the Canadian dream.”
For Albertans who choose Option 2 on the referendum ballot, she added, she hopes the vote will send a message.
“I just hope they make a little bit of noise, and maybe the respect will be different.”
Barbara Nadon was another visitor we caught up with on Parliament Hill.
On a girls’ trip to the nation’s capital, Nadon, who lives in Langley, B.C., said she spent 12 years in Alberta and understands the frustration felt by some people in the province.
But she hopes Albertans will choose to remain in Canada when they vote Monday.
“I don’t think that all the people that want to separate have taken into consideration all of the things that it would affect — currency, policing, like hospitals, everything,” she said. “So, I think there’s more pros to stay with Canada, working together to find a solution.”
Nadon’s friend, Cindy Lytle, who lives in Saskatoon, agreed.
“I think there’s a lot of good to remain in Canada,” she said.
If polls are correct and voters turn out, the federalist side is most likely to win on Question 10.
But there are nine other referendum questions Albertans will vote on.
Questions 6, 7, 8, and 9 all deal with constitutional questions affecting the Senate, the Courts, federal social programs, and provincial jurisdiction.
None of those questions will result in binding decisions.
But it could reopen debate on Canada’s constitution and, once again, raise questions about Alberta’s place in confederation.
La Ferriere warns that if things do not change, Monday’s referendum could mark only the beginning of the push for Alberta separation.
“It became a whisper in Alberta in the last 10 years,” he said. “Now it’s a discussion. It’s going to be a rallying cry if we don’t change.”
