(LifeSiteNews) — Despite strong opposition to federal overreach, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith appealed to Albertans to support unity by voting no to an upcoming referendum question that asks whether the province should separate from Canada.
“I support Alberta remaining in Canada,” an emotional Smith said in a recent press conference.
“That is my position. That is the position of my government, my caucus, and my party.”
Smith, however, said these words while at the same time making it clear that her and many Albertans’ frustrations with years of woke Liberal government policies that attacked the province’s energy sector.
“A lot of Albertans are angry, and some are more than angry … They’re hurt,” she told a crowd of supporters a week ago.
Smith added that “Western frustration with Ottawa is not new, and it’s not only Albertan.”
To be clear, the October 19 referendum vote will ask the question of whether or not a petition for Alberta separation should proceed in the future will be allowed by the current United Conservative Party (UCP) provincial government under Smith.
The question about possible separation to be put to Albertans reads, “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”
Along with the separation question, there will be nine other questions related to immigration, Canada’s Senate, and other pressing issues.
The calls for Alberta’s independence have grown since Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney defeated Conservative rival Pierre Poilievre in the 2025 federal election. In Alberta, almost all of the seats except two went to the Conservatives.
Carney, as former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before him, said he is opposed to new pipeline projects that would allow Alberta oil and gas to be unleashed, although he may be softening his stance due to high oil prices as a result of the U.S.-Iran war.
His green agenda, however, like Trudeau’s, is at odds with Alberta’s main economic driver, its oil and gas industry.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, Smith has announced before that despite her “personal support for remaining in Canada” she will let Albertans decide if there should be a vote on Alberta leaving Canada.