Alberta government adds separation-related question to fall referendum

Playing null of undefined

‘It’s time to have a vote’: Alberta Premier Smith to request separation referendum question

‘Alberta’s future will be decided by Albertans, not the courts’: Premier Smith on separation

Forever Canadian referendum question approved by legislative committee

Albertans will vote on whether the province should remain a part of Canada when they head to the polls this fall.

They will also decide if a second referendum on Alberta’s independence should happen in the future.

Premier Danielle Smith says her government is putting a new question on an Oct. 19 provincial referendum that covers sentiments of both the successful pro-federalist Forever Canadian petition and the struck-down Stay Free Alberta separation petition.

The question: “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?”

The wording captures what Smith says is a way to hear from Albertans on both sides of the separation debate while abiding by a legally binding Court of King’s Bench decision that ruled a previous separatist question unconstitutional.

Earlier this month, a judge struck down Stay Free Alberta’s petition because the group failed to consult First Nations.

In a televised address Thursday evening, Smith said that ruling “fundamentally misinterprets the nature of the duty to consult.”

“I want to be clear. I support Alberta remaining in Canada. That is how I would vote on separation in a provincial referendum. It is also the position of my government, and my caucus,” she said.

“However, despite my personal support … I am deeply troubled by an erroneous court decision that interferes with the democratic rights of hundreds of thousands of Albertans.”

Smith said a ‘yes’ vote for another referendum would allow her government to take the legal steps toward a second separation vote without falling under the recent court ruling. The outcome of the fall referendum would not trigger separation, she added.

The question would also avoid a months or years-long court appeal process Smith’s government began shortly after the ruling was announced.

“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,” she said.

“It’s time to have a vote, understand the will of Albertans on this subject, and move on.”

Legislative committee approves Forever Canadian petition hours prior

MLAs part of a review committee approved a referendum petition that would ask Albertans if the province should remain in Canada hours before Smith’s address.

The committee was tasked with reviewing the next steps for Thomas Lukaszuk’s Forever Canadian petition question, which amassed more than 400,000 signatures in support of staying in Canada. It was initially unclear whether there would be a provincewide vote on the matter.

The United Conservative Party members outnumbered the Opposition in the group, swaying Thursday’s vote.

The decision comes after the UCP caucus prematurely released a statement Wednesday recommending the referendum, prompting the end of committee’s meeting which resumed Thursday afternoon.

UCP MLA Jason Nixon said the release was sent in error, but voted with other party members in the committee against discussing the matter further.

New Democratic Party members at the committee meeting pressed the UCP to elaborate on the media breach, which were continuously avoided.

Brandon Lunty, UCP MLA, said the questions posed by the Opposition were irrelevant to the motion of the day.

Opposition MLA Court Ellingson proposed that the province consult with First Nations before putting the referendum to Albertans.

“The government can’t pass the duty to consult,” said Ellingson during the meeting.

UCP committee members accused their Opposing colleagues of stalling the meeting with the consultation amendment, which the NDP refuted.

The amendment to consult with First Nations was ultimately struck down.

NDP’s Rakhi Pancholi raised concerns of a recent data breach that saw the release of more than three million Albertan’s private information leaked, saying a referendum shouldn’t be held until the investigation into the breach has been completed.

Pancholi and her party colleagues voiced their suspicion that the premier would be announcing her own referendum on separation in a televised address Thursday evening.

“She is using this committee to legitimize her desire to have a question on a referendum,” said Ellingson.

Nixon called a point of order, saying “what the premier thinks or does not think is certainly not under discussion in this motion.”

Following the meeting, Pancholi accused the UCP of “courting separatists.”

“The premier is very aware that it is the separatists in this province who got her the UCP leadership, and she owed them a debt,” said the MLA.

Forever Canadian petition leader Lukaszuk said Smith has “something else coming” if she thinks the referendum question will satisfy separatists.

“What the premier is doing right now is trying to find her way through a very, very fine crack between upsetting separatists and upsetting the rest of Alberta, and her only goal right now is saving her political skin … as opposed to doing what’s good for our province and our country,” Lukaszuk told media after the meeting.

With a question on staying in Canada now slated for the ballot, Albertans will be voting on 10 immigration and constitution-related questions this fall.

The other nine questions, which ask for a mandate on issues relating to Alberta’s jurisdiction in matters of immigration and the judicial system, were announced earlier this year.