BURSTThere won’t be another referendum regarding separation as long as Danielle Smith is Alberta’s premier, she stated during an address to the province on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
The premier issued the address following Oct. 19’s provincial referendum, where more than 75 per cent of Albertans voted to keep the province in Canada.
“The people of Alberta cast their votes in an open and democratic referendum, and the resulting vote from Albertans has given our government a clear mandate,” said Smith.
“Alberta will remain a province of Canada. Albertans will continue to be Canadians, and our government will work co-operatively with Albertans, the federal government and our fellow provinces to secure a prosperous future for our province and our country.”
Smith added that Alberta will “continue to boldly assert our province’s autonomy by exercising the provincial rights guaranteed to us by Canada’s constitution.”
“We will use every legal and political tool at our disposal to protect and advance the interests of Albertans. When Ottawa interferes with those rights, we will be unrelenting in our response. But those disputes will be settled within the political and legal institutions of our nation, rather than pursuing separation,” she said.
Smith said not every issue between the province and federal government has been resolved, and there are “many political and constitutional battles” to come.
“I’m also convinced the federal government is no longer targeting and trying to phase out and eliminate Alberta’s largest economic sectors, as they attempted to do under the previous prime minister,” said Smith.
“Both the federal conservatives and federal liberals are united in supporting Alberta and our key industries in a manner we haven’t seen in a generation.”
Many of the nine other referendum questions specifically focused on immigration. Smith said through the referendum Albertans have directed the provincial government “to take greater control over immigration, so we can moderate the extraordinary population growth our province has experienced, and prioritize jobs and opportunities for Albertans and Canadians.”
“(Albertans) have given us direction to ensure temporary residents pay a portion of the cost of public services used by themselves and their families. (Albertans) have spoken in favour of requiring proof of Canadian citizenship in order to vote,” she said.
Ahead of Smith’s address to the public, Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi said Smith will falsely claim “she has a strong mandate to pick fights with Ottawa and newcomers now.”
“Albertans know we are only in this situation because of Danielle Smith. She changed the laws three times to help the separatists, and when that didn’t work, she gave them a referendum anyway,” said Nenshi.
“She spent $4 million of taxpayer money — more than 10 times what anyone else did — trying to convince voters to vote for horribly torqued questions and barely eked out a win on any question. She is now seen as the least-popular and least-trusted provincial politician in Alberta. Separatism will always be her legacy.”
Nenshi said Albertans are frustrated with the cost of living, lack of good jobs, and “the mess that the UCP has made of public health care and public education.”
“They are frustrated with spending nearly $200 million of taxpayer money on this pointless referendum exercise. In short, they are deeply frustrated with Danielle Smith,” said Nenshi.