Alberta Premier Danielle Smith defends promise of a potential referendum on separation

Premier Danielle Smith says her focus will be on repairing the destruction she says Ottawa has caused to Alberta over the past decade as the idea of separation from Canada gains greater public attention.

During a news conference Tuesday, Smith reiterated that she would hold a referendum on provincial separation in 2026 if citizens gather the required signatures on a petition.

Smith said she didn’t want to presume a referendum will happen, but said she will honour the voting process.

Smith said her government has no plans to put the question of Alberta separating from Canada to Albertans, but her government is taking steps to demand respect from Ottawa. 

“I do not support Alberta separating from Canada,” Smith said. 

“I personally still have hope that there is a path forward for a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada. So I am going to do everything within my power to negotiate a fair deal for Alberta with the new Prime Minister.” 

When asked if separation was even possible, Smith said she refused to walk into negotiations with Prime Minister Mark Carney believing they might fail.

She said, however, she will respect the wishes of Albertans and honour the referendum process. Smith said it’s important that Albertans are able to have open, frank discussions about Alberta’s future. 

“In the months ahead, there will be many who will try to sow fear and anger among us. Those who would like to see Alberta divided,” Smith said. 

She said it will be up to Albertans to decide if separation warrants a public vote.

Last week, a day after Carney led the Liberals to victory in the federal election, Alberta introduced legislation that, if passed, would cut the threshold required to trigger a provincial referendum.

Under the proposed bill, a petition would need signatures from 10 per cent of the eligible voters in a previous general election — down from 20 per cent of total registered voters. Applicants would also get 120 days, rather than 90, to collect the required 177,000 signatures to open a referendum vote.

“All I’ve said is that I will honour the process,” Smith said. 

Watch | Alberta premier says separation could be on the ballot if citizens successfully petition:

Premier Danielle Smith lays out plans to ‘protect’ Alberta from Ottawa

She said there has always been frustration in Alberta against Ottawa and that frustration has only increased in recent years. 

She said there has always been some level of support for separation in Alberta. She said people have a right to that opinion and should not be “demonized” for it. 

“It’s always ebbed and flowed, but that has always been in the background in Alberta electoral politics and it just happened to have flared up right now.

“Citizens have a right to express their opinion on things that they’re concerned about and I think it’s my job to ensure that debate is respectful.” 

Smith took questions from reporters following a live address Monday during in which she touched on everything from perceived economic incursions from the federal Liberal government to her plans to strike a sovereignty panel.

In her 18-minute address Monday, Smith said Alberta will organize a panel to discuss Alberta’s future in Canada.

Smith confirmed her plans to strike a sovereignty panel to explore long-term options for economic and constitutional protections from Ottawa.

The group, which she is calling the Alberta Next panel, will host a series of town halls to hear from Albertans. 

She said Albertans will then have a chance next year to vote on the more popular proposals that emerge from the panel discussions. 

Smith also issued an updated list of demands that she said Ottawa must meet to mend the strained relationship with Alberta.

During Tuesday’s news conference, Smith defended her government’s decision to introduce legislation that would reduce the threshold for citizen-led referendum questions.

“If we genuinely want citizens to be able to identity issues they care about, to be able to put forward to the people, you need to have reasonable signature threshold.”

Chiefs from Alberta’s First Nations covered by Treaties 6, 7 and 8 held a news conference Tuesday following an emergency meeting. 

The leaders say they are furious Smith is allowing a legislative change, through Bill 54, which would lower the threshold for citizens to put a referendum question to Albertans. 

Piikani Nation Chief Troy Knowlton, the president of the Blackfoot Confederacy, said the chiefs have come together to issue a unified message to Smith: First Nations have treaties with the Crown that the government of Alberta cannot interfere with and must respect. 

Knowlton said they are prepared to take the issue to court. 

“This is Treaty country,” Knowlton said. “Any talk of separation is really insanity because there is no pathway to to separation.

“Today we stand united. We’re not going anywhere. And if you feel that you’re you have problems with First Nations, you could leave.”

Chief Billy Joe Tuccaro of the Mikisew Cree First Nation was more blunt. 

“You will not do what you want without the approval of Treaty people,” he said. 

“Bill 54, this is what we think of you,” he added as he tossed a paper copy of the proposed legislation on the floor. “You’re garbage, like that.

“This is Treaty land and we stand on it today.”

Knowlton said Alberta’s Indigenous Relations Minister Rick Wilson called him yesterday to discuss the bill. But he is not happy that Wilson stood up in the legislature and joined the rest of the UCP caucus in voting down Bill 209, the Reconciliation Implementation Act.

The private members’ introduced by NDP MLA Brooks Arcand-Paul would have tracked the Alberta government’s progress in fulfilling the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 

“You come to my community, you sit across the table, you shed tears at almost every meeting,” Knowlton said. 

“You smoked the pipe with us. When it comes to voting for something that’s going to benefit the First Nations, you vote against it.”