Premier Smith rides Calgary Stampede parade to mixed crowd reactions on separation debate

The Calgary Stampede parade turned into a referendum on Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on Friday, as she heard both cheers and jeers while riding in a horse-drawn wagon down the sun-baked downtown route.

"We love you, Danielle!" some yelled as Smith, in a red cowboy hat and blue jeans, waved from the box seat. Others pointed at her and chanted her name, drawing out the syllables: "Dan-yell! Dan-yell!" Many waved back. But scattered boos and one man's shout—"Danielle suuuuucks!"—reflected the deep divide over her plan to hold an October 19 referendum on whether Alberta should begin the process of quitting Canada. Some chanted "Ca-na-da! Ca-na-da!" as she rode past.

Smith has promised to support Confederation as the province moves toward the vote. "Smith has been viewed both as an arsonist and a firefighter, standing up for a united country while simultaneously validating a movement to dismember it," according to reporting on the controversy. The separation debate has proven divisive, leading to threats, abuse, and the cancellation of a parade in Sundre earlier this summer over a float of Alberta flags viewed as a separatist symbol.

Parade watcher Darrell Siemens, who cheered for Smith, said: "I like that she's just standing up for what she feels. The citizens of Alberta deserve to hear from both sides of the whole debate about separation or not separation and allow both sides to have a voice." Nicky Currie, who booed, said: "I think she is an absolute disgrace for Albertans. I think she's obviously a separatist."

Smith has enjoyed strong poll support in her term, though numbers have slipped during the separation debate. On Thursday, she announced a proposed new bitumen pipeline to the west coast alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney—a nation-unifying project, she called it.