Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre tried Tuesday to convince Albertans to vote to stay in Canada with less than three weeks to go until the Alberta referendum vote on separation.
His speech at a downtown Edmonton hotel was among others he has given or plans to give in the province as part of his efforts to convince Conservative voters that Alberta is stronger within a united Canada.
Poilievre, who is from Alberta, said separatists have a problem with the federal Liberal government — not with Canada.
“Many Albertans are legitimately frustrated that a costly and controlling, big and bossy government has gone far beyond its jurisdictional boundaries,” he told a crowd of supporters holding Canadian flags and “Conservatives for Canada” signs.
Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party government has called a 10-question referendum for Oct. 19.
The 10th and final question asks Albertans whether they want to stay in Canada or have a second, binding referendum on leaving the country.
Smith has said she supports Alberta staying a part of Canada and plans to vote that way in the referendum, but that hundreds of thousands have signed petitions for and against separation, and it’s time to put the issue to rest.
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Critics, pointing to long-standing opinion polls indicating massive support for Alberta staying in Canada, have accused Smith of calling the vote to appease restive separatist hardliners in her party.
Poilievre said Liberal government policies have left Canadians struggling to make ends meet, everywhere from the gas pump and the grocery store to buying a house.
“Our businesses and workers are frustrated that our oil and gas is left in the ground and our opportunities are left there with it,” he said Tuesday.
The solution to those problems is not an independent Alberta, he said.
“Separation will not solve those problems. Becoming even more Canadian will,” Poilievre said.
“The solution is to double down on the way the country was always meant to work.”
He said Albertans should keep fighting by, for example, forcing Ottawa to unlock the power of Alberta’s oil and gas industry.
Earlier in the day, Poilievre attended a fundraiser for Conservatives for Canada, a group of federal politicians making the case for Alberta to stay in Confederation.
He has tapped Dane Lloyd, a member of Parliament who represents an Alberta riding, to lead that effort.
On Tuesday night, Lloyd gave a shout-out to the Conservative MPs in the room who have campaigned for the federalist side of the separation debate.
“Conservatives are patriots,” Lloyd said.
“We love our country. We love our home province of Alberta.”
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