Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has launched a "Conservatives for Canada" campaign to encourage Albertans to vote against leaving Canada in the upcoming Alberta referendum, set for October 19. The campaign, led by Parkland MP Dane Lloyd, argues that Alberta's problems lie with the federal government, not with staying part of Canada. Despite efforts from other groups to lobby for separation as a way to gain leverage with Ottawa, polling suggests that most Albertans want to remain in Canada. The campaign's message is centered on engaging conservative Albertans and promoting Canadian unity, with Poilievre stating that "all Conservatives will be campaigning for Canadian unity in Alberta."
Written by the local model on 2026-09-05,
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.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but none of the 1 quote(s) it offered could be found in the article text, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 4176: no verified evidence · logged 2026-09-05
The federal Conservatives have launched a campaign to engage their supporters and encourage them to vote to stay in Canada in the upcoming Alberta referendum.
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Conservatives → launch → referendum
Albertans are set to vote on Oct. 19 on whether they want to remain a province or begin the legal process to hold a binding referendum on leaving the country.
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they → set → country
In a speech he delivered in Calgary this summer, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called for Albertans to stay united and argued that separatists have a problem not with Canada but with the Liberal government.
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separatists → deliver → government
“We don’t need a different country in Alberta, we need different government policies in Ottawa,” Poilievre said on June 8.
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Poilievre → need → June
Parkland MP Dane Lloyd was named the caucus lead on the remain campaign.
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Lloyd → name → campaign
“We are engaging conservative Albertans with a message, and the message is not that everything’s all right,” he said in an interview on Friday.
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he → engage → Friday
“We know the status quo needs to change.
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quo → know → ?
He said Albertans feel like “their voice isn’t being heard, that their values are not being respected” by the federal government.
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values → say → government
That feeling persists, he said, in spite of the fact that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals cancelled the consumer carbon price, signed a memorandum of understanding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on resource development and referred a West Coast pipeline for approval as a project in the national interest.
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Liberals → persist → interest
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Lloyd said the people he’s spoken with at roundtables “still view themselves as patriotic Canadians” but they’re frustrated with the way the province has been treated by federal governments dating back decades — with the exception of former prime minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.
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province → get → Conservatives
At a time when national pride is growing stronger across the country as a result of the trade war with the United States, “we need to engage that patriotism,” Lloyd said.
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Lloyd → grow → patriotism
Polls suggest the vast majority of Albertans want to remain in Canada.
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majority → suggest → Canada
Some of the groups actively lobbying for people to vote to begin the referendum process are arguing that a yes vote would create leverage with Ottawa.
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vote → lobby → Ottawa
Polling also suggests that separatism is primarily a right-wing issue and that a sizable amount of support for separation is coming from supporters of Smith’s United Conservative Party.
uncertain
amount → suggest → Party
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suspect → dominate → home
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sitting → scrap → bans
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Poilievre said earlier this summer that “all Conservatives will be campaigning for Canadian unity in Alberta.”
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Conservatives → approve → Alberta
Poilievre has been in Alberta over the summer to attend the Calgary Stampede and a slate of events in his riding of Battle River-Crowfoot.
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Poilievre → attend → River
The Conservatives for Canada group launched a website on Friday and released a statement on social media.
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group → launch → media
Asked why the campaign was launched six weeks before the vote, and just over two weeks before MPs are set to return to Ottawa, Lloyd said he spent the summer meeting with people and it became clear that a concerted campaign was needed.
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campaign → ask → people
“As you know, during referendums the voter turnout can be very low.
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turnout → know → referendums
And I think it’s critically important that we engage at least the 1.4 million Albertans that voted Conservative in the last election to get out and vote for a stronger Alberta within a United Canada,” he said.
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he → think → Canada
Elections Alberta said this week it is anticipating high turnout.
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it → say → turnout
The provincial elections agency said it’s received 290,000 requests for mail-in ballots so far, and that its polling suggests voter turnout could reach a record-breaking 85 per cent.
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turnout → say → cent
Lloyd said the “grassroots campaign” is operating within Elections Alberta’s rules.
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campaign → say → rules
The campaign website prominently features donation buttons and offers information about how to vote and to volunteer.
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website → feature → information
