Alberta premier to chair sovereignty panel, put proposals to 2026 referendum
Separation only on ballot if citizens successfully petition for a question, premier says
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she will chair a panel to brainstorm how the province can protect itself from perceived economic incursions from the federal Liberal government.
Albertans will then have a chance to vote on the more popular proposals discussed at the "Alberta Next" panel's in-person and virtual meetings during a 2026 referendum, Smith said in a video address Monday.
"The world looks at us like we've lost our minds," Smith said. "We have the most abundant and accessible natural resources of any country on earth, and yet we landlock them, sell what we do produce to a single customer to the south of us, while enabling polluting dictatorships to eat our lunch."
"For Albertans, these attacks on our province by our own federal government have become unbearable."
The premier made the remarks during a video livestream where reporters were not present and unable to ask questions. Smith is holding a news conference to answer questions about her remarks Tuesday at noon.
Smith said her government has no plans to put the question of Alberta separating from Canada on the 2026 referendum ballot. However, if citizens are successful in gaining enough signatures to require the government to pose a referendum question to the public, that question would also be on the ballot in 2026, Smith said.
A bill currently before the legislature would make it easier to get the required number of signatures to prompt a referendum, should it pass as drafted.
The bill, introduced the day after the federal election, would change citizen-initiated referendum rules to require a petition signed by 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.
"I do not support Alberta separating from Canada," she said.
Watch | Alberta premier says separation could be on the ballot if citizens successfully petition:
She said any referendum question must respect the constitutional rights of Indigenous people and respect Treaties 6, 7 and 8.
Critics accused Smith of being an apologist for separatists and creating an environment of instability that could put the province's economy at risk.
Smith also issued an updated list of demands she says Mark Carney's minority government must meet to show Albertans respect.
Smith said she will appoint a special federal negotiation team to attempt to secure corridors to move Alberta oil and gas products to the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic coasts unobstructed.
Smith said Ottawa must also provide Alberta with the same per-capita equalization transfers as the other large provinces — Quebec, Ontario and B.C.
Smith repeated her call for consultation with Alberta before the federal government imposes any export tariffs with economic effects in the province.
Smith also reiterated her demands the federal government repeal environmental impact legislation on large infrastructure projects, an oil tanker ban of the northern coast of B.C., clean electricity regulations, a mandate to sell only electric vehicles by 2035, and any regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, use of plastics, or free speech.
It's understandable that some Albertans are calling for separation after feeling the federal government won't let the province's economy prosper, the premier said.
"A large majority of these individuals are not fringe voices to be marginalized or vilified. They are loyal Albertans. They are quite literally our friends and neighbours who have just had enough of having our livelihood and prosperity attacked by a hostile federal government. They're frustrated. And they have every reason to be."
Smith's address comes a week after the federal Liberals won a fourth consecutive federal election.
That outcome has roused some people to organize rallies and circulate petitions promoting the notion of separation from Canada, or potentially joining the United States.
In a news release, the separatist Republican Party of Alberta called the premier's address "a political smokescreen."
Opposition says premier dragging out fight with Ottawa
John Soroski, associate professor of political science at Edmonton's MacEwan University, says some of the premier's wish-list items would be difficult to achieve. That includes changing the equalization formula, which would require the agreement of other provinces and a constitutional amendment, he said.
"It's difficult to see if the premier is sincere in desiring to produce the outcomes that she wants, or if she's intending to use this as an opportunity to create continuing conflict with the federal government," he said.
Alberta governments have been studying Quebec's playbook for decades, Soroski said. The premier knows that separation threats are an effective strategy to get concessions, and is likely "very happy" discontented folks are pushing for it, Soroski said.
Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said in a statement that Smith should be dismissing notions of separatism, not empathizing with them. Talk of separatism is likely to spook investors away from the province and harm the economy, he said.
"Danielle Smith coddles people who want to tear our nation apart," Nenshi said. "She doesn't tell them that they're wrong, she doesn't argue with them, she doesn't say she disagrees with them."
He said grievances around equalization and moving Alberta products to international markets are legitimate, but threatening separation is a poor solution.
Nenshi said the Alberta Next panel will be "stacked with endless cronies, spending endless taxpayer dollars on an endless fight that she will never win."
The panel would be the second such exercise in the province in six years. In 2019, Jason Kenney formed the Fair Deal Panel in response to citizens' frustration with federal policies.
Among the Fair Deal Panel's recommendations were studying the feasibility of a provincial police force, holding a referendum on leaving the Canada Pension Plan and attempting to wrest more provincial control over immigration.
At least one United Conservative Party MLA would like to see separation on a referendum ballot. Red Deer-South MLA Jason Stephan told reporters at the legislature on Monday it would be a "healthy democratic process" for Albertans to have.
Debt has climbed under the federal Liberals and economic growth has stagnated, he said.
"I want Albertans to understand the truth of how badly we have been treated over the past number of years," Stephan said.
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With files from Kory Siegers and The Canadian Press