Premier Danielle Smith says she acted on a referendum question on Thursday because she knows residents need a clear answer on the issue sooner rather than later.
“I have been clear with Albertans from the start that I am in support of remaining in Canada,” she told a media conference in Calgary on Friday.
“That has and will continue to be the position of my government and my caucus.”
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Smith also spoke to the separatist groups who seek a clear “yes or no” response on a referendum question.
“That isn’t possible,” she said.
“With the recent court ruling, there is no legal way to hold a binding separation referendum.”
If it had been put on a ballot, Smith said the question would have been struck down.
Separation spurred by multiple issues
Smith said the idea of Alberta leaving Canada came about because of poor policies by previous federal governments and the sentiments of many Albertans who are done with the country.
But the problems don’t stop there, the premier said.
“There’s issues around immigration, which is why we have several immigration questions on the ballot in the fall. There’s questions about how the federal question interferes in our jurisdiction – those questions will also be on the ballot in the fall to see if we can get them addressed. There’s also the issue of the gun grab for legally abiding gun owners who acquired their guns legally.
“Not everything is perfect with Ottawa.”
Alberta NDP hold rally to stay in Canada
Catriona Le May Doan joined Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi on Friday following Danielle Smith’s address where she announced another referendum question to be put to Albertans in the fall.
“Any day and everyday I will stand for the maple leaf,” said Le May Doan, who won gold medals in speed skating for Canada in 1998 and 2002, as well as a bronze at the Nagano Games.
The Friday availability was promoting Nenshi’s ForAlbertaForCanada.ca, a movement for Albertans to share their voice about why the province should stay in Canada.
“I came here to Calgary 38 years ago for sport and I have not left. It is where I have chosen to have my family, raise my family and to stay,” Le May Doan said.
On Thursday night, the premier said the following question would be included on the Oct. 19 referendum vote:
“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?”
Her comments also touched on a recent court battle that saw Stay Free Alberta’s referendum question quashed by a judge.
The premier says her government is committed to that fight, but the legal action will take too long and will miss the window of the Oct. 19 referendum vote.
“I think it’s a rather clumsy attempt to get around the decision of the judge,” said Kathleen Mahoney, a law professor emeritus at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law.
“If the answer is ‘yes’ to the second question, clearly indigenous rights are at risk or being breached.”
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Smith said the wording of the new question was supposed to appease both sides of the debate.
Nenshi says the premier’s strategy is “extraordinary political malfeasance.”
“There’s horrible politics about this,” he said. “The fact that we are in this situation right now is 100 per cent the fact that the premier doesn’t care about being the premier.
“She doesn’t care about governing. She doesn’t care about doing her job.”
Nenshi said Smith will “not lift one finger” to help those who want to remain in Canada.
“She’s put it on us. She’s going to make us to the work,” he said.
“But you know what premier? We’re proud to do that work.”
Albertans want to have the debate, Smith says
Smith said when both petitions, by Thomas Lukaszuk’s Forever Canadian campaign and Stay Free Alberta, were submitted, she looked at the number of signatures.
“I look at 400,000 people who signed a referendum saying that they wanted to vote to remain in Canada (and) I look at 300,000 people who signed a petition saying the opposite.”
Those 700,000 people told her Albertans “want to settle it once and for all.”
“That’s who I’m listening to. I believe in a citizen-initiative process. It was a process that was on the books since before I even became premier and it seems to me that people on both sides of that petition campaign in earnest and in good will thought they were entering a process they thought would be put to a vote.”
