Alberta’s transportation minister declined on Friday to say whether he’d vote for or against his province remaining in Canada, becoming the first cabinet minister to publicly avoid taking what Premier Danielle Smith says is the anti-separation stance of her cabinet, caucus and party.
Devin Dreeshen was standing with Smith to announce the results of the province’s latest passenger rail study when a reporter asked him directly how he’d vote on the Oct. 19 referendum, which asks if Albertans want to remain in Canada or hold a future binding vote on independence.
He first insisted his “one vote” was irrelevant next to the roughly 100 people gathered at the announcement. Then he suggested the onus should really be on Ottawa to persuade Albertans that it’s worth staying in Canada.
“I see the media has been asking lots of politicians what their opinion and what their singular vote is going to be, but I do find it interesting that I haven’t seen a lot of pressure on the federal government to see what they’re going to do,” Dreeshen told reporters.
“Because it is the federal government’s primary responsibility to make sure that the country stays together.”
This statement is at odds with what his political boss has said. Smith has repeatedly said that she will vote to keep Alberta in the country, and that she considers it “my job” to help prove to voters that Canada can work.
Several other members of Smith’s cabinet have declared that they will back the “stay” option in the referendum; none have directly said they would vote to advance the separatist cause.
Dreeshen also avoided Smith’s common refrain in favour of a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada, instead offering a different provincial mission statement.
“We’re doing our best as a provincial government to make sure that we can support Albertans and make sure that they have the best quality of life here in the province,” he said.
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Dreeshen represents a rural riding in central Alberta. Polls have suggested support for separatism is low province-wide, but at its strongest outside of Calgary and Edmonton, and that more than half of the supporters of the governing United Conservatives favour leaving Canada.
However, some other rural cabinet ministers have come out in favour of keeping Alberta in Canada. “It’s time to lead, not leave,’ Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams, who represents the province’s northwest corner, wrote on social media.
“Alberta is stronger in a united Canada,” Finance Minister Jason Nixon told CBC’s Rosemary Barton Live last month. Nixon represents the rural central Alberta seat next to Dreeshen’s.
Smith stood wordlessly as her transportation minister handled the question about his referendum stance. A spokesperson for the premier did not reply to questions about Dreeshen’s answer.
Alberta’s opposition NDP, which strongly opposes provincial independence. has urged all MLAs to declare where they stand on the referendum question. No UCP legislator has yet said they would vote to start the process toward separation.
