Carney visits his alma mater in west Edmonton to urge voters against separation

Prime Minister Mark Carney returned to his Edmonton high school Thursday morning to deliver a Thanksgiving message aimed directly at Albertans facing a separation referendum in one week.

Spoke from St. Francis Xavier High School in west Edmonton, Carney told the nation that Oct. 19 will mark "an important decision about their future." The referendum puts 10 questions to voters, with the final one asking whether Alberta should remain a province of Canada or pursue a binding vote on independence.

Carney tied the referendum to concrete federal investments: a proposed high-speed rail route between Edmonton and Calgary, and a West Coast pipeline—officially called Pacific Link—running from Alberta's oilfield to the Pacific. "We can't achieve any of this if we're divided. You can't build big things on fault lines," Carney said. "Generations of Albertans helped build this country. It's yours, it's ours, and it's worth fighting for."

The prime minister said he's been working to convince more Albertans to vote to remain in Canada. A CBC News poll shows 72 per cent said they'd vote to stay, while 23 per cent said they'd support beginning the process for a binding separation referendum.

Meanwhile, separatist leaders have signalled they won't abandon the fight even if voters reject the referendum question. That stance directly conflicts with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's commitment: she said chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault on Friday that she will not hold a second separation referendum if Albertans vote to remain. "Not as long as I'm premier," Smith said.

Polling suggests the separatism question's numbers have been largely stable for years, while the nine other questions—tied to immigration and constitutional matters—remain decidedly more uncertain. Smith's stated threshold is 50 per cent plus one for the separatism question and "majority rule" for the others.