Federalist supporters flocked to Edmonton on Saturday to join
Forever Canadian leader Thomas Lukaszuk as his group opened their campaign office ahead of Alberta's independence policy referendum in October.
"There may not be enough sandwiches for all of you, I'm sorry, but there is enough lawn signs for all of you and more," said Lukaszuk to the over 1,000 individuals who came to Forever Canadian's headquarters to kickoff their referendum campaign.
"So friends, as our recently released video said, we didn't start this fight, but we are showing up, and we're going to win. Canada is not, and being Canadian is not, where we live, but who we are, and no one is going to take that away from us."
The event came after
Premier Danielle Smith announced that a question about whether Alberta should remain in Canada will officially be on Alberta's Oct. 19 referendum.
"Kicking the can down the road only prolongs a very emotional and important debate, and muzzling the voices of hundreds of thousands of Albertans wanting to be heard is unjustifiable in a free and democratic society," said Smith during her address to Albertans on Thursday.
"It’s time to have a vote, understand the will of Albertans on this subject, and move on."
The referendum question will not be a direct "yes" or "no" question, nor will a vote to leave Canada automatically trigger independence negotiations.
Albertans will be asked, "Should Alberta remain a province of Canada or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?"
Polls typically show around 29% support for Alberta independence, but Lukaszuk said independence support should not be underestimated, and he emphasized the importance of a strong voter turnout because the independence side will likely show up in large numbers.
"So, friends, we have six months of a campaign that we cannot take for granted, because we know even though most of us Albertans are proud Canadians, voter turnout will be key," Lukaszok said to the crowd of supporters.
"So, I'm asking every single one of you here, talk to your friends, talk to your family, talk to your neighbours, get them to sign up on forever-canadian.ca and become a member of Forever Canadian, for the reason, only reason, so that we can remind you and assist you with voting on referendum day."
Liberal MP Eleanor Olszewski, who represents Edmonton Centre, joined Lukaszuk and Alberta NDP MLAs Rakhi Pancholi, Janis Irwin and Brooks Arcand-Paul to motivate Albertans to join the federalist fight.
"We need to all go out and talk to our neighbours, and our cousins, and our grandparents, and our friends, and our colleagues, and make sure that they show up on October 19," said Olszewski.
"This beautiful country of Canada is worth fighting for, and let's show everyone on October 19 that we will not be divided."
The Forever Canadian event comes after a UCP-led cabinet committee charged with reviewing the petition determined that some of the 400,000 individuals who signed it may have done so under the impression that it was calling for a policy referendum on Alberta's remaining in Canada.
"There's been a lot of people in the last week or so who claim to know what was in the mind of all the people who signed the petition, the half million Albertans who signed the petition, or the 1000s of people who collected signatures, and they put a lot of words in our mouths, right?" said Pancholi to the crowd.
"That's what they did. But ultimately, I told the media last week what was in the hearts and minds of every single volunteer and signatory to that petition was love. Love for our country. Love for our province. Love for our neighbours here in Alberta, but across this country."
Pancholi and the Alberta NDP launched
their own federalist campaign in April after their leader, Naheed Nenshi, emphasized the nearly successful 1995 Quebec separation referendum and said Albertans cannot afford to have a close call as they did.
"This is the fight of our lives," said Nenshi on Tuesday. "The stakes have never been higher, and I will fight like hell, and Albertans will fight like hell to defend this country."
Ex-UCP leader and Former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and a group of other public figures have their own
federalist campaign that acknowledges the real grievances Albertans have with the current state of Canada, but say the solution is not to leave Canada.
"We understand why many Albertans are frustrated. For decades, people here have felt ignored, dismissed, and treated unfairly by governments and institutions that too often fail to recognize Alberta’s enormous contribution to this country," reads the campaign's bio on its website.
"Those frustrations are real. They deserve to be heard, respected, and addressed."
"But we believe Alberta’s future is stronger within a united Canada than outside of it."
Smith did her own Federalist advocacy on Saturday while speaking to UCP members during a members-only fireside.
"The memorandum of understanding that we signed, I think, and look through it in some detail, but I think what that indicates is that we now have a Prime Minister who understands our decentralized federation, understands you can't just steamroll over the provinces, understands that on areas of overlapping jurisdiction, you've got to sit at a table and work it out," said Smith.
"And I can tell you we've got a lot to work out, but that's part of the reason why I think we ended up where we're at right now."
