Alberta Premier Smith makes emotional case for staying in Canada ahead of October referendum

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith held back tears Saturday speaking at a virtual assembly co-hosted by former Opposition leader Preston Manning and former B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, making the case for why Albertans should remain in a "united Canada."

Smith has called a referendum for October 19 that will ask whether Alberta should remain in Canada or hold a second binding referendum on the legal process to separate. At Saturday's assembly, she recounted historic indignities Albertans have suffered at the hands of the federal government.

"A lot of Albertans are angry and some are more than angry. They're hurt. I hear it at town halls, in coffee shops, at hockey rinks and in my email inbox," Smith said. She spoke of a farmer pressured by people who never made a living off the land, a young family who did everything right and still cannot afford a home, and parents watching their grocery bills rise and opening January utility bills with a knot in their stomach.

Smith said western frustration with Ottawa is nothing new. "When a proud, hardworking people feel their contribution is taken for granted and their livelihood is treated as something to be phased out, some begin to ask a painful question. Does this country actually want us?" she said.

Smith called the referendum earlier this year, saying enough Albertans view separation as a legitimate response to federal interference in provincial affairs and that it is time to put the issue to rest once and for all in a vote. She said the past 10 years felt like Ottawa trying to shut down the province's economy.

Opposition NDP critics say Smith is inflating and legitimizing grievances of a small sliver of discontented Albertans to mollify hardline separatists in the UCP. Polls suggest Albertans favour remaining in Canada, though exact figures from the source were not provided.