Prime Minister Mark Carney is visiting central and Edmonton-area stops promoting a vote to keep Alberta in Canada ahead of Monday’s referendum questions.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney continued his pro-Canada campaign in Alberta as the province prepares to vote on Monday referendum questions about whether Alberta should separate from Canada.
The Prime Minister was set to visit Red Deer with Premier Danielle Smith and later rally in Edmonton with the federalist group Forever Canadian.
Earlier, Carney spoke at a Forever Canadian rally in Calgary, telling the crowd of roughly 5,000 that a vote against Canada was a dangerous bluff that could lead to years of lost opportunities.
Carney said frustrations in Alberta are real, while arguing that Canada is working in the spirit of cooperative federalism.
Smith’s government has put 10 questions on Monday’s referendum, including one asking whether Alberta should stay in Canada or hold a second, binding vote on leaving.
Carney told those gathered that the referendum comes at what he described as the worst possible time, saying the world has grown more dangerous and divided and that some outside Canada’s borders were working to “break us so they can own us.”
He argued that Albertans have a choice to “build a stronger Alberta and an even greater Canada” or to burden their children with years of deep division and uncertainty, and said Albertans need a decisive result on Monday to settle the question.
Attendee Bill Chan, who lives in Calgary, said Carney’s comments struck him as more “conciliatory” about how Ottawa would treat provinces and territories going forward, and that remarks about Canada being “built historically by people banding together” stood out for him.
Chan said that if history is any guide, he believes going separate ways has never been as strong or impactful as doing things together.
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