Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta will proceed with a non-binding referendum in October on whether its residents want to remain part of Canada, Premier Danielle Smith said Thursday, a largely symbolic move that could still pose a major challenge for Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The ballot box question will not trigger separation, Smith said, but will instead ask residents if the Alberta government should start the legal process that is constitutionally required in order to hold a binding referendum on independence at a later date.
“It’s time to have a vote, understand the will of Albertans on this subject, and move on,” Smith said in an evening televised address. She said it was no longer helpful to prolong an “emotional and important” debate.
The October vote would mark the first time in Canadian history that a province outside of Quebec has put the question of separation to the public. It promises to be divisive not only within Alberta but more broadly in Canada, as Carney attempts to lead a united Canadian front in grappling with U.S. tariffs and the renegotiation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement in coming months. “As we take note of Premier Smith’s address this evening, we remain focused on building a stronger Canada for all, in full partnership with Alberta and to the benefit of all Albertans and all Canadians,” Minister of Internal Trade Dominic Leblanc said.
ABOUT ONE-THIRD OF ALBERTANS SUPPORT SEPARATION
The announcement comes after months of campaigning by a vocal group of separatists who want a referendum on leaving Canada, in spite of polling that has consistently shown separation is supported by only about one-third of the province’s voters.
They were dealt a setback last week when a provincial court ruled in favor of a First Nations bid to halt the referendum petition. But Smith promised to appeal the judge’s decision, saying it infringed on the rights of citizens to speak out about important issues.
Jeff Rath, a spokesman for the separatist group Stay Free Alberta, criticized Smith’s remarks, writing on social media that her question was “a referendum on having a referendum” and ignored Albertans who wanted to vote on independence.
Smith, who has been accused by critics of fanning the flames of separatism by halving the number of signatures required to prompt a citizen-led referendum, said on Thursday she unequivocally believes Alberta’s position is in Canada and will cast her own vote to that effect.
“Now is not the time to give up hope in our country,” she said, adding that her government had successfully lobbied Carney to roll back several of his predecessor’s environmental measures. Many Albertans had been angered by those policies, which they said undermined the province’s oil and gas industry.
The question of national unity is highly sensitive in Canada, particularly in the wake of a referendum in Quebec in 1995 that only just failed to back independence for the province.
After that vote, the federal government pushed through legislation giving parliament the final say over the wording of any province’s proposed referendum and laying down conditions that must be met before Ottawa would open talks on independence.
Separatists delivered a petition to Elections Alberta earlier this month that they said had over 300,000 signatures — more than enough to trigger a vote on leaving Canada under provincial law.
Smith’s party on Thursday recommended that a referendum be held instead on a different petition which declares that Alberta should remain a province of Canada. That petition garnered more than 400,000 signatures.
The petition’s proponent, Thomas Lukaszuk, said it had been meant to prevent a referendum and that if Smith’s government chooses now to put his question on remaining in Canada on a ballot, it would be acting without his endorsement.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Additional reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Edmund Klamann)