‘This is our country’: Alberta billboard sparking Canadian patriotism

A new billboard along the main highway between Calgary and Edmonton is attracting a lot of attention and a lot of ire.

A billboard on the Alberta highway between Calgary and Edmonton is attracting a lot of attention, and in some cases stirring up patriotism.

An ad on a scrolling digital sign along the QEII near the town of Bowden, Alta., shows Premier Danielle Smith and U.S. President Donald Trump alongside a soaring eagle and message encouraging Albertans to “Tell Danielle! Let’s join the USA!”

Several Bowden residents are not convinced.

“It’s a slap in the face for anybody in Alberta,” said Bowden resident Shirley Schultz.

“It should be taken down and burned,”

Outside Tim Horton’s in Bowden, Steve Lovejoy and his dad Chuck said they support free speech -- but not the message.

“People have the right to say what they want to say but as far as him (Donald Trump) coming into Canada and taking over Canada, that’s not going to happen,” said Steve.

“I’m a Canadian, I’m going to stay in Canada,” said Chuck.

Robb Stuart, the mayor of Bowden, said the town has been receiving a lot of negative calls and emails from people across the country, even though the community of 1,200 people has nothing to do with it.

“People are entitled to their opinion but they’ve got to look at the facts,” said Stuart.

“I have my personal opinions,” he added. " watched that hockey game last night, cheered for Canada,“ he said, referring to Canada’s epic overtime win against the U.S. in the Four Nations Tournament Thursday night.

‘A sovereign nation’

The province isn’t behind the sentiments expressed on the billboard either.

“Canada is and will continue to be a sovereign nation,” Smith said in a statement to CTV.

“What we want is for Canada to have the strongest trading relationship possible with our friends and allies in the United States.”

America Fund is the business that paid for the ad. It was formerly behind Wexit, an organization which took a page from Brexit and tried to apply it to Alberta but has now shifted its goal.

“If Ottawa wants to say that oil and gas tariffs, export tariffs and export bans are on the table, well then we’re saying becoming the 51st state is on the table,” said Peter Downing with America Fund.

Some Albertans are strongly against this.

“We don’t need this for Alberta and Alberta is not going to separate, nor is Canada, so they can just forget about it,” said Bowden resident Shirley Schultz.

The billboard is on private land but the owner posted a sign on his land saying he has no control over the content. He told CTV he has contacted RCMP and his insurance company due to threats he has received.

He said the business that owns the billboard has been threatened as well.

CTV contacted SpotAds about its policies but did not receive a response.

American Fund says more signs will be added soon on trailers along the Trans Canada and QEII highways.

The organization said the current billboard will be up for about a month, which means Bowden residents may be hearing about it for a few more weeks -- much to the chagrin of most of them.

“This is Canada,” said Steve Lovejoy. “This is our country,”