Albertans will go to the polls this fall to answer a series of referendum questions, including whether or not to vote — at a future date — to leave Canada.
Premier Danielle Smith, in a paid televised speech Thursday night, said the province will be adding a question to the Oct. 19 referendum she announced the last time she took to the airwaves back in February.
The additional question will be: “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?”
But why hold a vote on a future vote?
The added question addition comes after Smith said she disagreed with the ruling of a Court of King’s Bench judge who quashed a separatist’s petition last week, saying the provincial government had a duty to consult with First Nations before Stay Free Alberta was allowed to gather signatures.
“Because this proposed referendum question does not directly trigger separation, but if successful would ask Alberta’s government to commence the legal process necessary to hold a binding referendum on the matter, the recent court ruling would not be applicable and the referendum question I outlined could proceed,” Smith said.
Smith rejected the judge’s decision as incorrect in law and anti-democratic, pledging the province would appeal it — something she said during her televised speech could take months or years if it goes all the way up to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Until then, the ruling is binding law.
So, the new question is a workaround — but only the beginning of the process.
Smith said it ensures the 700,000 people who signed either the Forever Canada petition to stay in the country or the Stay Free Alberta petition to leave are respected.
“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.
“It’s time to have a vote, understand the will of Albertans on this subject, and move on.”
Smith stressed she wants Alberta to remain in Canada, would vote that way, adding that is also the position of her United Conservative Party.
“I have repeatedly stated that the position of the UCP caucus and UCP government is to build a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.
“I have never deviated from that position and I will not do so now.”
Separatists urged to be patient, believe in Canada
Smith also used her 15-minute televised address to reiterate her party’s longstanding grievances with the federal government and what she said is Ottawa’s interference in areas of provincial jurisdiction.
She called on other provincial leaders and MPs to help “undo the extensive damage that centralization of power in Ottawa has done to our country economically and with respect to national unity.”
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“I am fiercely loyal to both Alberta and Canada,” Smith said.
“But I truly believe our country is so much stronger and more prosperous when we respect the rights of provinces and empower them to govern themselves with minimal federal interference.”
Smith acknowledged the relationship has improved since Mark Carney was elected prime minister last year.
She then spoke directly to separatists, pleading for patience and their vote to stay in Canada.
“In my view, now is not the time to give up hope in our country. Not when we have fought so hard for so long and come so far. I believe Canada can still work. I believe it’s working better every day. And it can work even better in the future if we keep fighting together for it.”
“Now is the time to double down and fight even harder for the prosperity and change we wanna see in our country. Because Albertans are at our best when we are hard at work getting things done for each other and our families.”
Smith also asked the pro-Canadian crowd to help heal the division between the two sides.
“The vast majority of those advocating for separation love our province profoundly. Many are also proud Canadians, but have simply lost hope that their families can flourish within Canada.
“So instead of attacking these loyal Albertans, let’s work together to restore hope in their country again.”
Legislature drama precedes Smith’s announcement
Smith’s speech came one day after a legislature committee meeting imploded when UCP prematurely sent out a news release.
The committee was reviewing a motion on whether Thomas Lukaszuk’s Forever Canadian petition should be included in the fall referendum. It had yet to vote on the matter when the statement was released saying the motion had passed.
That was the expected outcome anyways, given the UCP members on the committee outnumber the Opposition NDP members, but the pre-determined nature of the statement led to allegations by the Opposition NDP and Lukaszuk that the entire process was a farce with a foregone conclusion.
On Thursday, the Select Special Citizen Initiative Proposal Review Committee met once again and as expected, the motion passed.
How did we get here?
The proposed referendum question Smith unveiled Thursday night is the latest development in what has become a long and arduous journey in a tale of two petitions.
On one side is former MLA Thomas Lukaszuk, who began gathering signatures a year ago under the Forever Canadian banner. His question reads: “Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?”
Under provincial citizen-initiative rules, he needed just under 300,000 names to force Smith’s government to consider the issue.
He received well over 400,000, and by the end of the year, Elections Alberta had certified the petition as valid.
However, up until Wednesday, the UCP government had done little to act on Lukaszuk’s petition.
They sent it to the committee for recommendations on how to proceed and to clear up outstanding issues. Smith has said one critical issue is what Lukaszuk wants done with the petition.
Lukaszuk has said he collected the names not to force a referendum, but to compel politicians in the legislature to stand and affirm they believe in a united country.
However, he has also at times expressed support for a referendum — something the UCP latched onto recently as an argument in support of adding to the October referendum questions.
The competing separatist petition by Stay Free Alberta, has had, by turns, an easier and a harder path. Their question: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?”
Unlike Forever Canadian, Stay Free organizers only needed to gather about 178,000 names to trigger a government response after the UCP government rewrote legislation last year.
But then they faced having their petition tossed out as unconstitutional by a judge last year, after Elections Alberta asked the courts to affirm the question was not offside with the Constitution.
But before the judge could decide, Smith’s government changed the law again — this time voiding Elections Alberta’s right to put such questions to the courts.
The judge involved issued his ruling anyway, saying such a question would, indeed, have violated the Constitution.
Despite the ruling, Stay Free Alberta’s second attempt at a petition was issued in January and canvassers got to work collecting signatures. Three weeks ago, the group submitted for verification what they said were more than 300,000 signatures, far more than what was required.
That petition was then put into legal limbo by last week’s court ruling, leading to the workaround Smith announced Thursday night.
The 6:45 p.m. address aired as part of paid commercial time on Global News Hour at Six. Smith is scheduled to hold a media availability on Friday afternoon in Calgary.
This story will be updated with reaction to the premier’s speech. More to come…
— With files from The Canadian Press