Alberta Premier Danielle Smith vows to not hold formal separation referendum

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith vowed she will not be holding a formal referendum on separation as long as she is in power, while also moving forward with reforms on immigration.

In her televised address on Tuesday evening, Smith called the voter turnout for Monday’s  referendum historic, thanking Albertans who cast their ballot. She said she will be honouring Albertan’s mandate and that it is time to move forward from the issue.

Smith said her government will continue to protect Alberta’s autonomy against Ottawa and will be “unrelenting” in its response.

“Those disputes will be settled within the political and legal institutions of our nation rather than pursuing the option of separation,” Smith said.

“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.”

Smith said the early results — regardless of the margin — points to Albertans directing her government to exercise more control over immigration, ensure temporary residents pay a fee for public services and require proof of Canadian citizenship in order to vote.

Smith said she is still waiting for results on whether or not Albertans want the province to pursue more control over judge selection, abolishing the unelected federal Senate and protecting provincial rights.

On Tuesday evening, of the votes counted so far, an overwhelming majority of Albertans have voted to remain in Canada with about 75 per cent voting for option one and 24 per cent voting for option two.

According to the unofficial results as of 5:53 p.m., 90 per cent of all voting areas were reported, with 14,127,664 votes recorded across all 10 questions.

Speaking to those who voted for option two — for the government to hold a binding referendum on separation — Smith called those voters loyal Albertans and said they’ve had a hand in altering Canada’s direction “for the better.”

“I’ve listened to so many of your stories. Those stories have touched my heart and I want you to know I see and understand you,” Smith said.

“You need to know that your voices have been heard. Not just by our government, but also by your fellow Albertans and your fellow Canadians.”

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi provided a video address ahead of Smith’s announcement at 6:45 p.m.

In the short video, Nenshi acknowledged the frustration Albertans have and promised an Alberta NDP government would work to address the grievances of all Albertans.

“We will be a government whose No. 1 job is to ease your mind and ease your worries, to make your life just a little bit better, a government that has great public services there when you need them, and a government that gets out of the way when you don’t,” Nenshi said.

While Nenshi said he didn’t know what Smith would say, he accurately guessed that she would claim unity and that Albertans have given her a mandate to pursue changes to immigration that would strip away “basic human rights from immigrants.”

Nenshi also called the referendum a political game and did not help Albertans.