{"id":17251,"date":"2026-04-24T00:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T00:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/17251\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T00:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T00:16:11","slug":"braid-pro-canada-question-could-get-the-nod-in-upcoming-referendum-on-albertas-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/17251\/","title":{"rendered":"Braid: Pro-Canada question could get the nod in upcoming referendum on Alberta’s future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Albertans will likely vote on a pro-Canada question Oct. 19 \u2014 referendum day in Alberta.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what the (legislature) committee is looking at right now,\u201d Premier Danielle Smith said at a news conference Thursday.<\/p>\n

The premier read out Thomas Lukaszuk\u2019s entire rationale for his Forever Canadian question: \u201cDo you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?\u201d<\/p>\n

Referring to his petition, she said, \u201cWe had 450,000 people sign on to this, expecting a referendum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that the proponent has changed his mind afterwards, and he just wants it to go to the legislature.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s what we\u2019re having to talk to Elections Alberta about, to justice officials about, because it does seem to me that this is kind of a legal process initiated in a legal way with precise language.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people signed on a certain expectation, and so we\u2019re just trying to get some direction from the committee on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The direction she expects from the UCP-dominated committee, obviously, is using the Forever Canadian question.<\/p>\n

Until now, it seemed unlikely Lukaszuk\u2019s question would be on the ballot.<\/p>\n

Most of the talk has been about the separatist question, now mired in a legal challenge.<\/p>\n

Also, Lukaszuk had asked for a legislature vote on the question, not a provincewide vote. He still prefers that, he says.<\/p>\n

But when told of Smith\u2019s comments, Lukaszuk said, \u201cIf she is so afraid to ask this question in a legislature, then, yes, I am delighted that she\u2019s using our question as the question that will be on the referendum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

The duelling separatist question is: \u201cDo you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be part of Canada to become an independent state?\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith had earlier suggested that would be on the ballot if it passed regulatory hurdles.<\/p>\n

But a First Nations challenge has tied up the separatist question in court.<\/p>\n

On April 10, a judge issued a one-month stay on Elections Alberta receiving and certifying signatures<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That means that nothing can be counted until after the May 2 deadline for collecting signatures.<\/p>\n

The judge\u2019s final decision is yet to come. But she cast doubt on the petition drive by saying First Nations had \u201cprovided evidence of harm from lack of consultation and harm to treaty relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the judge rules the question unconstitutional, Smith will be in a jam.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Premier Danielle Smith and Justice Minister Mickey Amery talk about information related to the fall referendum on Thursday, April 23, 2026 in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

She already pulled a separatist question out of court when a judge said it violated the Constitution. She rewrote legislation to allow the question and put it back on the signature market.<\/p>\n

Would the premier dare to do that again, especially when the complainants are a powerful group of First Nations?<\/p>\n

Not when the answer to the dilemma is right at hand \u2014 the Forever Canadian question.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a referendum on separation, of course. Separatists can vote No to Alberta staying in Canada.<\/p>\n

They will campaign hard to make that happen if the pro-Canada question gets the nod.<\/p>\n

The government unleashed powerful movements when it eased referendum laws.<\/p>\n

Lukaszuk got 440,000 valid signatures<\/a>. Separatist organizers say they\u2019ve collected 300,000 or more, although that\u2019s not certain.<\/p>\n

In any case, a huge number of Albertans are saying they want a vote on Alberta\u2019s future in Canada.<\/p>\n

Smith and company now realize they must get it.<\/p>\n

She was asked why the government doesn\u2019t avoid the complications by simply putting a government-sponsored independence question on the ballot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, because my position is that we should remain in Canada,\u201d she responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the position of our government. We believe we should assert sovereignty within a united Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

This has become a complicated mess with rule changes, new laws and a general impression that the UCP coddles the separatists.<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, I asked separatist leader Jeffrey Rath yesterday if he considers forming a separatist party like the Parti Quebecois in Quebec.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve already got one \u2014 the United Conservative Party,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The pro-Canada referendum question won\u2019t be the worst thing for Smith.<\/p>\n

Don Braid\u2019s column appears regularly in the Herald<\/p>\n

X<\/a> and Bluesky<\/a>: @DonBraid<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Albertans will likely vote on a pro-Canada question Oct. 19 \u2014 referendum day in Alberta. \u201cThat\u2019s what the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8872,17,8870,3178,8868,8219,8871,8869],"class_list":{"0":"post-17251","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-albertans","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-club","11":"tag-danielle-smith","12":"tag-elections-alberta","13":"tag-first-nations","14":"tag-referendum","15":"tag-thomas-lukaszuk"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}