Danielle Smith makes plea to separatists in televised speech, vows no more secession referendums

In a province-wide address on Tuesday evening, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith vowed not to hold another referendum on the secession issue, while also urging separatist voters to “believe and hope in Canada again” following Monday’s referendum results.

In her first public remarks since referendum polls closed, the premier again sought to elevate the various deals and major projects her government has signed with Prime Minister Mark Carney in an effort to mend Alberta’s fractured relationship with Ottawa. Her comments came one day after Albertans voted with a decisive three-to-one margin to reject a proposal to hold a second legally-binding vote on whether to leave Confederation.

“And I want to make it clear tonight that for as long as I am premier, I will honour this mandate from Albertans and will not be holding another referendum on this issue,” she said. “It is time to move forward together as a strong and free Alberta within a united Canada.”

As of 7:00 p.m. MT on Tuesday, more than 1.95 million votes had been counted on the referendum’s 10th question, which asked whether Alberta should stay in Canada (Option 1) or hold a second vote on the matter (Option 2). Seventy-five per cent voted to stay in Canada while 25 per cent opted for the second option, with 90 per cent of voting stations reporting results.

Smith, who could now face an internal political reckoning from the very base of pro-independence supporters who helped get her elected, also made a plea to the one out of every four Albertans who supported Option 2.

“You love this province, and you want your family and neighbours to have every opportunity to succeed,” she said. “Many of you view Ottawa as having threatened your freedoms and blocked your path to prosperity. I acknowledge the legitimate frustrations you’ve felt — most especially during the Justin Trudeau Liberal-NDP coalition years.”

The premier based her optimism on a claim that the country has “changed significantly” in the last 1.5 years, evident in Ottawa’s newfound support for expanding oil and gas exports and its recent decision to desginate Alberta’s proposed West Coast oil pipeline as being in the national interest. In recent months, Smith and Carney have announced various major projects like oil project, a proposed passenger rail line between Edmonton and Calgary, and a recent $8-billion commitment toward four military bases in the provinces.

“So tonight I want to invite every Albertan who may still feel hopeless or frustrated with the past direction of our country, to believe and hope in Canada again,” Smith said.

“We are reversing course away from a lost decade and towards a bright future with Alberta’s prosperity at its centre.”

The premier called for patience among Alberta’s most disillusioned voters, who have for decades raised concerns over Ottawa’s mistreatment of the province. Many Albertans have long accused the federal government of choking off personal freedoms, overstepping its jurisdictional boundaries and enacting restrictive environmental policies that stifled oil and gas sector growth, and Smith suggested that frustrations over those matters won’t dissapear overnight.

“I am well aware that not every grievance Alberta has with Ottawa has been resolved,” she said. “There are still many political and constitutional battles ahead of us. But I am also convinced that the federal government is no longer targeting and trying to phase out and eliminate Alberta’s largest economic sectors as they attempted to do under the previous prime minister (Trudeau).”

The premier also commented on the results from the referendum’s other nine questions, for which Albertans seemed mostly poised to support. Five of the 10 referendum questions focused on immigration rates, and proposed giving Alberta more control over immigration and limiting access to some public services for non-permanent residents, among other things. Voters seemed likely to support each of those five questions as of 7:00 p.m. MT, as well as supporting other constitutional questions proposing to, for example, work with provinces to abolish the federal Senate.

“Although results are still coming in, it appears that Albertans have directed the provincial government to take greater control over immigration so we can moderate the extraordinary population growth our province has experienced and prioritize jobs and opportunities for Albertans and Canadians,” Smith said. “They have given us direction to ensure temporary residents pay a portion of the cost of public services used by themselves and their families. They have spoken in favour of requiring proof of Canadian citizenship in order to vote.”

She said her UCP government would “continue to boldly assert our province’s autonomy” through provincial rights guaranteed to the provinces under the constitution.

“We will use every legal and political tool at our disposal to protect and advance the interests of Albertans,” she said. “And when Ottawa interferes with those rights, we will be unrelenting in our response.”

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