Forever Canadian opens downtown Calgary office, Nenshi warns against separatism vote

The Forever Canadian movement opened a campaign office in downtown Calgary on Wednesday, as the anti-separation camp gears up for an October referendum that will ask Albertans whether to remain in Canada or pursue a binding secession vote.

A line of supporters stretched outside 417 Riverfront Ave. S.E., where Thomas Lukaszuk, former deputy premier and leader of the Forever Canadian Movement, greeted visitors. The office will operate six days a week, distributing lawn signs to Calgary residents.

"Everywhere we go, people come out and they pick up their lawn signs and they want to show their pride in being Canadian," Lukaszuk said. "That being Canadian is not where you live, but who you are. We are Canadian, this is part of our identity, and nobody has the right to take that away from us."

Lukaszuk called for embracing both the Canada and Alberta flags as symbols of patriotic pride. "We need to make sure that we embrace the Alberta flag as much as we embrace the Canadian flag. The only way we can do it is by being open to conversations, by sharing information and by showing that being a proud Albertan means being a proud Canadian and vice versa."

At an Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at Canada Day event in Prairie Winds Park at noon, NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi addressed the separation debate head-on. "This is a chance for us to celebrate unapologetically and without compromise the greatest nation on Earth," he said. "We are proud Canadians, we always will be proud Canadians, and we will send a message to politicians 120 days from now, which is don't threaten the future of our country."

Nenshi said he will continue supporting For Alberta, For Canada, a political campaign advocating against separatism. "You shouldn't have to choose, and the premier making us choose is just not just bad politics, it's actually inhumane," he said.