Smith rules out second Alberta separation vote

Premier Danielle Smith told Albertans Tuesday night that the province will stay in Canada, saying roughly 76 per cent of voters chose to remain in Monday’s referendum and gave the province a decisive mandate to move past the separation debate. Smith is also the MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat.

She also committed that there would be no further referendum on separation while she is premier.

“It is time to move forward together as a strong and free Alberta within a united Canada,” Smith said.

Before turning to the results, she paid tribute to four Canadian Armed Forces members killed at CFB Wainwright over the weekend: Pte. Aidan Golding, Pte. Sean Farrell, Pte. Hayden Lickmark and Sgt. Morgan Wong. She pledged provincial support for the 27 injured soldiers being treated in Alberta hospitals and their families.

Smith points to her record

Smith used much of the address to argue her government’s fight with Ottawa has paid off:

Pacific Link pipeline: The proposed one-million-barrel-per-day line to the B.C. coast has been fast-tracked as a project of national interest. Smith said permitting is on track to be completed by September 2027.
Federal rules scrapped: She said the federal oil and gas production cap has been dropped and the net-zero electricity regulations Alberta opposed have been eliminated.
Investment: She said the new Alberta-Ottawa energy agreement has drawn hundreds of billions of dollars in investment for pipelines, electricity generation and more.
Sovereignty Act: Smith introduced the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act in November 2022, and it passed that December.
Party support: She won 91.5 per cent support in her UCP leadership review in Red Deer.

Smith said Alberta will keep asserting its constitutional rights through negotiation and the courts rather than separation, and will keep pushing for changes to the federal equalization system.

She spoke directly to Albertans who voted to begin the separation process, calling them loyal Albertans and inviting anyone still frustrated with the country’s past direction to believe in Canada again.

Results on the other nine questions, covering immigration, temporary residents, voting rules and provincial autonomy, were still being confirmed Tuesday. Smith said reforms with public support would be pursued in the months and years ahead.

Nenshi: referendum a ‘political game’

Ahead of Smith’s address, NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi released a pre-recorded video. He said Albertans told his party they were frustrated to have gone through the vote at all, called the referendum a “political game,” and argued it created no jobs beyond counting ballots.

“None of it made your life better,” Nenshi said.

With the next provincial election a year away, Nenshi pitched the NDP as a government-in-waiting focused on the cost of living, health care and education, and vowed an NDP government would never let the province come to another referendum. On referendum night, he said Smith made one of the year’s biggest political blunders by forcing the vote.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Albertans made a clear choice and that the result would help the country move forward together.