Bell: Danielle Smith's message for Alberta separatists on eve of the referendum

Premier Danielle Smith holds firm to her optimism.

She has something to say to the separatists if they do not win in the referendum vote.

“You have to accept the judgment of the people,” says the premier, in a fireside chat at the Canada Strong and Free conference in Calgary, where your scribbler pitches the questions.

“A political party that doesn’t align to the majority of citizens doesn’t stay a political party for very long.

“You have to look at the wisdom of the people. It has to be your guiding principle. It has to be if you’re going to be a democratic party in a democratic government.”

Smith admits many in this province are peeved off. How could she not?

“We’ve identified a lot of issues that made Albertans so angry,”

She feels those issues with Ottawa can be resolved and if they are dealt with then separatist sentiment will decline.

Smith points out many of the Alberta separatist activists came to the independence cause recently “based on the fear the next ten years would be like the last ten years.”

Smith mentions the departure of the former prime minister, his green guru and the NDP propping up the Liberals and what that means to her.

“The existential threat Trudeau, Guilbeault and the NDP posed is now gone.

“Our message is getting through and our policies are working and we just have to keep on doing that and I think we’ll be able to change the country and lock it in.”

Smith says we are “on the cusp of something pretty cool.”

Where some see storm clouds ahead for the party she leads, Smith sounds like she believes an Alberta blue sky will prevail with better days ahead under the maple leaf.

She sounds confident the conservative movement in Alberta she calls “a beautiful boisterous family” will remain united as the UCP heads into the provincial election this time next year.

When it is pointed out the merger of the Wildrose and the PCs, two very different groups put together to beat the NDP, was a marriage of convenience, the premier doesn’t see it that way.

“It is a marriage of love for me. I love my children equally,”

Like the rest of us, Smith now waits for the results of Monday’s referendum.

If most Albertans choose to remain in Canada, Smith feels she can persuade separatists in her party to move on and fight to get a better deal for Alberta within Canada.

The premier says she knows of some just wanting to express their anger in the referendum, some who once were staunch Canadians and could be again, all those who had all kind of reasons to vote Option 2.

Option 2 is the referendum choice to have Alberta hold a Yes/No vote on independence.

There are two polls, one by Abacus Data, one by Angus Reid. They both confirm what we’ve known for some time and the sticky situation Smith must steer through.

Most UCP supporters support having a actual referendum on whether or not Alberta should leave Canada,

In the latest Angus Reid nosecount 63 per cent of UCP voters back having a vote on Alberta exiting Canada.

In the words of a masterful headline writer there could well be a Brawl in the Family after the referendum votes are counted.

Despite what the Alberta premier has been saying, these voters do not believe Ottawa and the Carney government have got the message the province wants big changes on how Canada operates.

I asked Smith about Prime Minister Mark Carney coming in and saying Albertans should vote down the Alberta government’s nine referendum questions, including those on taking more provincial control of immigration.

Smith said dealing with immigration is “certainly not over” if most Albertans agree with her on the issue.

“I don’t know all the reasons why he got enticed into rendering an opinion on that,” she says.

The premier tells the crowd she understands why some people are skeptical of Carney.

“He does say different things in front of different audiences. That is true,” says Smith.

“What I have noticed is, inch by inch by inch he has moved those who support his party to a different path than the one they were in 18 months ago.

“Does his method irritate us out west? Sure it does.

“Does it irritate me that sometimes I hear him say things that make me wonder: Is he committed to this?”

The answer is Yes.

Smith concludes by saying people like herself who voted Option 1, for Alberta to remain in Canada, are “going to be even more vigilant” to make sure the province’s beefs are not punted into the background.

That’s a gamble for the premier.

“I know trust is very hard because we’ve trusted before and we’ve been treated badly and people are reacting emotionally to that.”