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· collected 2026-09-04 · by Stephanie Taylor
Dane Lloyd, the Conservative MP for Parkland in Edmonton, has launched a campaign called "stay" to encourage Albertans to remain part of Canada in the upcoming provincial referendum. The campaign is focused on engaging the province's 1.4 million Conservative voters and aims to have them understand that Alberta can do better within Canada rather than leaving it. Lloyd says the campaign will involve social media, lawn signs, canvassing, and phone calls to get people engaged ahead of the October 19 referendum. This effort comes as independence advocates argue that the referendum is about Alberta's place in Canada, with constitutional lawyer Keith Wilson saying "Albertans can do better" outside of Canada.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-04,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
The federal Conservative party has launched a campaign called "Conservatives for Canada" in an effort to encourage Albertans to vote against separating from the rest of Canada. The campaign was launched by Dane Lloyd, MP for the Edmonton-area riding of Parkland, and is aimed at engaging 1.4 million Conservative supporters in Alberta who voted for Conservative candidates in last year's federal election. The campaign will involve social media, lawn signs, canvassing, and phone calls to encourage people to vote on October 19. According to Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative party, "all Conservatives will be campaigning for Canadian unity in Alberta." The campaign comes as Albertans are set to vote on whether they want to remain a province or begin the process to hold a binding referendum on leaving Canada.
Written for “Alberta Referendum Campaigns” on 2026-09-05,
grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.
With a little more than six weeks before Albertans decide on a question of independence, a new campaign has emerged on the “stay” side targeting the province’s largest voting bloc: Conservatives.
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campaign → decide → bloc
More specifically, the 1.4 million Albertans who cast ballots for Conservative candidates in last year’s federal election.
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who → cast → election
Dane Lloyd, the party’s MP for the Edmonton-area riding of Parkland, is spearheading the initiative.
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Lloyd → spearhead → initiative
He says the reason for that focus is “self-evident” in a province historically awash in Conservative blue.
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reason → say → blue
“We are the largest political demographic in Alberta,” he told the Star on Friday.
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he → tell → Friday
“We have a critical voice that needs to be heard and needs to be engaged.”
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that → have → voice
Lloyd says the campaign will involve Conservatives from Alberta and beyond, with the focus on getting people engaged ahead of the Oct. 19 referendum through social media, lawn signs, canvassing and phone calls.
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people → say → media
It is launching as champions of independence argue that the referendum is less about secession than it is about Alberta’s place within Canada.
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it → launch → Canada
“We’re trying to get as many people to understand that Alberta can do better,” said constitutional lawyer and independence advocate Keith Wilson.
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Wilson → try → ?
Albertans who vote in next month’s referendum will have their choice of two options: “Alberta should remain a province of Canada,” or “The government of Alberta should commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada.”
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Alberta → vote → Canada
Lloyd was tapped by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre earlier this summer to lead their party’s response to the referendum.
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Lloyd → tap → referendum
He told the Star he has spent the past two months hosting round tables and speaking with Albertans in both the “pro-Canada” and separatist camps.
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he → tell → camps
“What was universal was that every single one of those people viewed themselves as a patriotic Canadian,” Lloyd said.
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Lloyd → view → Canadian
“What that made clear to me is that this needs to be a campaign that’s focused on reminding people of our love for our country, that it’s fundamental and that, yes, there needs to be change to the status quo,” he said.
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he → make → quo
“Ottawa does need to change, but that doesn’t mean leaving Canada.”
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that → need → Canada
While Lloyd notes that there are campaigns similar to his, he says they aren’t speaking specifically to Conservative voters.
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they → note → voters
“It’s a campaign that recognizes that the status quo is not all right.
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quo → ’ → ?
We don’t support the status quo, but fundamentally it’s not a problem with Canada.
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it → support → Canada
It’s a problem with Ottawa and that’s where we need to see the change,” he said.
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he → ’ → change
“There’s many campaigns out there talking to many different audiences and our campaign’s focused on reaching that audience — but not just that audience, all Albertans — to try and get them out to vote for a stronger Alberta within a united Canada.”
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campaign → ’ → Canada
Wilson, who is among the leaders of the independence group “Let Alberta Decide” and helped write a 214-page report outlining a separatist vision for what an independent Alberta could look like, argues the federalist side has “no plan” to deal with what he and others say are the structural issues that constrain Alberta.
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that → let → Alberta
While Wilson says “many” supporters of Alberta independence are also support the federal Conservatives, including those who live in Poilievre’s own deep-blue riding of Battle River—Crowfoot, the issue runs deeper than frustrations over seeing the party shut out of power in Ottawa for more than a decade.
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party → say → decade
He says past attempts to remedy those grievances — from the rise of the populist Reform Party to the election of Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, who famously declared after his first victory that the “West is in” — have failed.
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West → say → victory
“Many have come to the conclusion that Canada is structurally broken,” Wilson said.
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Wilson → come → conclusion
For whatever frustrations exist, Lloyd argues that change is possible, pointing to past battles Alberta has won and ways the province and Conservatives have “been moving the needle” in Ottawa.
“We’re talking about pipelines again as a country,” he said, “and it’s not a conversation about whether or not to have pipelines — it’s about when and how fast we can get pipelines built.”
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pipelines → exist → pipelines
