\t\tRead: 2 min<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday compared Alberta\u2019s plans to consider separating from Canada to Brexit, calling it \u201cdangerous\u201d and suggesting people may not appreciate the consequences of their vote.<\/p>\n
Carney was the governor of the Bank of England in 2016 when Britain voted to leave the European Union and led the central bank as the U.K. navigated the complex process of exiting the bloc.<\/p>\n
He said Britons were not informed about the full consequences of their vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw firsthand what happened in the United Kingdom when the view was, vote for this, it\u2019ll be soft, and then we\u2019ll negotiate,\u201d Carney said in Ottawa.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re still, 10 years later, trying to undo what people didn\u2019t think they were voting for, but what they ended up having.\u201d<\/p>\n
Separatists in Alberta say they have collected the signatures of more than 300,000 supporters, enough names under Alberta law to force a referendum on leaving Canada.<\/p>\n
But an Alberta judge shut down the process, saying the citizens\u2019 initiative was invalid because the separatists had failed to consult with Indigenous groups whose rights could be threatened if the province separated from Canada.<\/p>\n
Alberta\u2019s conservative Premier Danielle Smith has called the judge\u2019s decision \u201cerroneous\u201d and said she would go ahead with her own ballot question, structuring the question so that it does not violate the ruling.<\/p>\n
Smith said she plans to ask Albertans in October if they want her government \u201cto commence the legal process necessary to hold a binding referendum\u201d on independence, stressing she personally supports the province remaining in Canada.<\/p>\n
Asked about Smith\u2019s ballot question on Monday, Carney recalled Brexit and offered \u201can observation from experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn these separation issues, it is often advanced that \u2014 vote for this and it\u2019s a free option, vote for this and we will strengthen our hand in a future negotiation. That is a very dangerous bluff,\u201d the prime minister said.<\/p>\n
Polls show that roughly 30 per cent of Alberta\u2019s five million people support independence, a record high figure.<\/p>\n
The separatist camp accuses Ottawa of stifling Alberta\u2019s oil industry with excessive federal influence, while blocking investment over what they view as unreasonable concerns about the environment.<\/p>\n
Even if the separatists lose a prospective referendum, leaders on both sides say the process will have permanently changed Canadian politics.<\/p>\n
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