PM Carney warns Alberta separation is no magic wand at Stampede
The Prime Minister is heading to next week's Calgary Stampede to reiterate that separation won't solve Alberta's problems, citing Brexit as a cautionary tale.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney is coming to next week's Calgary Stampede and plans to warn Albertans that separation from Canada is not the solution separatists believe it to be.
Speaking to reporters Thursday in Ottawa, Carney pointed to the United Kingdom's 2016 vote to leave the European Union as a cautionary tale. "I saw firsthand what gets sold in these referenda, that everything's gonna be easy, that you can keep your passport, the currency — you can stay in the country and leave it at the same time," he said.
Carney emphasized that Alberta's independence vote comes at a time when Canada is trying to be seen as a stable, reliable international trading partner. "At a minimum, it's years of uncertainty before the subsequent question comes, right at a time the world is fundamentally uncertain. It's not a 'free option' with no consequences, but a 'dangerous bluff.'"
Albertans are set to vote on October 19 on whether to stay in Canada or trigger a binding referendum on separating from the country. Premier Danielle Smith has said she wants the province to remain in Canada but felt obliged to call the referendum after hundreds of thousands of Albertans signed petitions on the issue.
Carney said he spoke with Smith earlier in the week and pointed to their joint work advancing a bitumen pipeline project to the West Coast. He noted that such a project requires co-operation from Indigenous Peoples, neighbouring British Columbia, the federal government, and foreign buyers. "That is possible because of Canada," Carney said.
Smith has blamed past federal governments for undermining the province's fossil fuel industry and faces separatist pressure, particularly from within her United Conservative Party. She is expected to announce before Canada Day whether a new bitumen pipeline proposal will meet the federal major projects office deadline. "I'm really hopeful that I'll be able to convince the vast majority of Albertans to vote with me to remain in Canada," she said earlier this month.
