Alberta’s Opposition leader says now is not the time to hold a referendum on quitting Canada as the country wages a consequential trade war with its southern neighbour.
NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi says Premier Danielle Smith needs to cancel it or, at the very least, postpone it.
“It’s time to call off the referendum,” Nenshi told reporters Tuesday in Calgary.
“The premier’s pandering to separatists just shows weakness; it shows that Canada is not united.”
Albertans are to vote Oct. 19 in a provincial referendum that asks, among several other questions on the ballot, whether the government should start the legal process to hold a future binding vote on separating from Canada.
Nenshi said Canada has to send a message of unity as it resumes the trade war with the United States.
The U.S. has levied import fees on $28 billion worth of Canadian goods, with Canada announcing counter-tariffs that are to kick in Sept. 8 on an array of items, ranging from American steel and aluminum products to video game consoles and fishing rods.
When asked for a response to Nenshi, Smith’s office referred to the premier’s comments on her radio talk show last weekend. Smith said the referendum will continue because hundreds of thousands of citizens have signed petitions demanding a resolution.
“Citizens signed one of two petitions saying they wanted to have this question now, and that’s what the vote is going to be on Oct. 19,” Smith said Saturday.
“I think we need to make sure that we are clear about what Albertans want us to do. That’s part of the reason why we’re having the vote.”
Smith has said she’ll personally be voting to remain in Canada.
Nenshi’s criticism piggybacks on comments last week from Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
St-Pierre Plamondon said if his separatist party takes office in the Quebec general election in October, it would postpone a promised referendum on secession until the end of U.S. President Donald Trump’s presidency.
The unpredictable nature of the Trump administration could harm Quebec’s referendum process and discussions about the province’s future, St-Pierre Plamondon said.
Trump is about midway through his four-year mandate.
The Alberta NDP has accused Smith of holding a separatist vote not to resolve a profound question preoccupying Albertans, but rather to placate hardline separatists in her United Conservative Party.
That contrasts with the long-standing separatism concerns of Quebecers, said Nenshi.
“If real separatists (in Quebec) understand the danger of doing this, how come a separatist of convenience, like Danielle Smith, doesn’t understand that danger?” he said.
The battle for hearts and minds of Albertans ahead of the referendum has seen groups on both sides organize advocacy campaigns.
That includes two former Alberta political foes.
Former NDP premier Rachel Notley and ex-UCP premier Jason Kenney announced they are co-chairing a Canadian Chamber of Commerce campaign to encourage Alberta to stay in Canada.
Both say they have had their differences but agree on the value of Alberta staying in Confederation.
