Summer is winding down — and Alberta’s separation debate is ramping up, as both sides laid the path ahead for their respective movements with rallies on Saturday.
Albertans will vote on Oct. 19 on 10 questions.
The ballots include a series of immigration and Constitution-related questions, as well as one on whether Alberta should hold a second, binding referendum on separation.
Hundreds gathered in Edmonton for a pro-separation rally at the Alberta Legislature.
Mitch Sylvestre, the leader of the Alberta Prosperity Project, told reporters Saturday that he’s pleased with the momentum the pro-independence campaign is seeing.
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“A year ago, nobody would have ever thought that we were going to have a vote, and I believe that there’s a lot of people that are now talking about Alberta independence,” he said.
“We’re mad at the Liberal government. We’re not mad at Canada.”
Sylvestre mentioned frustrations many Albertans share about feeling pushed aside by the federal government and feeling dissatisfied with how the feds have handled pipelines and the economy.
“We’re going to be working really hard on the get out to vote. It’s a question to ask a question. It’s a real good chance for Albertans to take a shot at Ottawa,” he said.
“I think Alberta has to send a strong enough message to Ottawa so we have the leverage to negotiate … No matter what, Alberta will end up being a better place because of it.”
Public opinion polls, including for CBC News, have consistently shown a majority of Albertans support staying in Canada.
But Dennis Budney isn’t one of them.
Budney attended the rally in Edmonton. He and his wife are pensioners, and worry about the rising cost of living.
“The value of our pension is shrinking, and shrinking, and shrinking. So, just make it even,” he told CBC News in an interview.
He said he worries Alberta is sitting on a goldmine of resources, and isn’t mining them to sell fast enough. Those revenues could be used for massive improvements in infrastructure, he said.
“[I am going] to vote to separate.”
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Sandra Shippelt also attended the rally in Edmonton.
“I want people to know that we’re serious,” she told CBC News in an interview.
“We are not racist, we don’t hate Canada, we don’t want to wreck things, we just want things better for our children and grandchildren.”
She, too, is worried about the cost of living, and said she notices prices at the grocery store and utilities have skyrocketed. She said she feels like this is the only way to send Ottawa a message.
“If they’re not going to change it, we have to do it ourselves,” she said.
Shippelt said she bought her first house when she was 22. She said there was no way her children could do that now.
More than a hundred people attended what Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi called a “mini-rally” in support of the province remaining in Canada in Calgary on Saturday. He said at least a dozen other smaller events are planned in the weeks ahead.
“This is not a giant, province-wide rally today, that was not its intent. We’re going to build up to that,” he told reporters.
“But it’s very clear that although the separatists are much lower in number, they are much more motivated to vote.”
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Nenshi said he is concerned about that prospect.
“I’m still very worried that a lot of pro-Canadian voters are taking the referendum for granted. They see it as the trick it is from Danielle Smith and they don’t want to participate,” Nenshi said.
“But it’s really important that if you love Canada, you have to come out and vote.”
Karina Pillay attended the pro-stay rally in Calgary.
“I’m a proud Canadian and I think it’s important we all stand up for Canada and show our solidarity,” she said in an interview.
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“There’s a lot of pressure and people considering otherwise, so we need to prove that our values are important, that any threats to Canadian sovereignty, any divisiveness, that’s not Canadian. That’s not us.”
Ross Rigby, a retired doctor, said he thinks the independence campaign is “totally ridiculous.”
“I hate separation. I think it’s the most vile thing we ever thought up in Alberta,” he said.
“It’s just despicable to think that we would break up a country this valuable, this full of democracy, for something that’s totally ridiculous.”
