Alberta premier makes case to stay in Canada; minister avoids the question

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith made the case for the province to remain in Canada, but a fellow UCP member avoided the question when asked.

Speaking to a crowd of 2,000 at the UCPs Calgary Leader’s Dinner on Friday, Smith received applause for saying she intends to stay within Canada.

“Together we did such a great job advancing Alberta’s position on energy that the federal Liberals adopted most of our positions,” she said, speaking to UCP faithful in Calgary Friday evening.

Her speech comes as polling from Leger shows declining support for Alberta separating from Canada, with 73 per cent of Albertans saying it should remain part of Canada, while only 15 per cent say it should become an independent country.

However, 29 per cent of UCP supporters still support the idea, and another 10 per cent support joining the United States.

Smith, in her remarks, said that Prime Minister Mark Carney has worked constructively with Alberta, and if Albertans want to send the feds a message, they should use the other questions in the upcoming fall referendum to do so.

“That is why I’m asking everyone here tonight to vote to remain and then vote ‘Yes’ to the other nine referendum questions on the Oct. 19th ballot,” she said.

“Together, those questions send a very strong message that Albertans expect fairness and respect and a stronger voice within Canada.”

On the same day, Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen didn’t directly say when asked at an unrelated press conference how he would vote on the referendum question, asking either to stay in Canada or to have another vote to start the process to leave Canada.

“I think there’s a 100 people in this room, so my one vote versus their 100 might be a little skewed,” he said.

Without answering, he chose to lay the blame and efforts to remain at the federal government’s feet.

“I see the media has been asking lots of politicians what their opinion is and what their singular vote is going to be,” he said.

“But I do find it interesting that I haven’t seen a lot of pressure on the federal government to see what they’re going to do, because it is the federal government’s primary responsibility to make sure that the country stays together.”

When asked to clarify his statement, Dreeshen’s press secretary pointed to his comments during the press conference.

Despite that, his cabinet colleague, speaking to CityNews as a UCP member, said that the party is united behind staying in Canada.

“I think we are,” said Tanya Fir, the Alberta culture and status of women minister. “I, too, believe in a strong Alberta within a united Canada; it’s important that we keep advocating to Ottawa to treat Alberta well.”

Premier Smith and party president Rob Smith had been at odds over where they stood on Alberta staying in Canada.

The premier has said she wants Alberta to stay in Confederation, while the party president said the party would not pick a side leading up to the vote.

The UCP eventually issued a new statement, saying it supports Alberta staying in Canada, adding that it has always supported Alberta staying in Canada.

Meanwhile, at the UCP dinner, Smith not only touched on the topic of separation in her remarks, but also touted her government’s more controversial policies. Those include cracking down on inappropriate literature in schools, banning puberty blockers for those 15 and under, and restrictions on regulatory bodies regarding the discipline of members.