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.
asserted
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.
asserted
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.
asserted
separatists → deliver → government
“We don’t need a different country in Alberta, we need different government policies in Ottawa,” Poilievre said on June 8.
asserted
Poilievre → need → June
Parkland MP Dane Lloyd was named the caucus lead on the remain campaign.
asserted
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.
asserted
he → engage → Friday
“We know the status quo needs to change.
asserted
quo → know → ?
He said Albertans feel like “their voice isn’t being heard, that their values are not being respected” by the federal government.
asserted
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.
asserted
Liberals → persist → interest
Get daily National news
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.
asserted
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.
asserted
Lloyd → grow → patriotism
Polls suggest the vast majority of Albertans want to remain in Canada.
asserted
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.
asserted
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
- Week two of Quebec campaign dominated by debates on immigration, language
- Man charged with arson at Liberal MP’s Toronto home, 2nd suspect wanted
asserted
suspect → dominate → home
- N.S. Speaker scraps planned legislature bans just days before fall sitting begins
asserted
sitting → scrap → bans
- 3.75% SGI rate hike approved in Saskatchewan, driven by rising repair costs
Poilievre said earlier this summer that “all Conservatives will be campaigning for Canadian unity in Alberta.”
asserted
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.
asserted
Poilievre → attend → River
The Conservatives for Canada group launched a website on Friday and released a statement on social media.
asserted
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.
asserted
campaign → ask → people
“As you know, during referendums the voter turnout can be very low.
asserted
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.
asserted
he → think → Canada
Elections Alberta said this week it is anticipating high turnout.
asserted
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.
uncertain
turnout → say → cent
Lloyd said the “grassroots campaign” is operating within Elections Alberta’s rules.
asserted
campaign → say → rules
The campaign website prominently features donation buttons and offers information about how to vote and to volunteer.
asserted
website → feature → information
The Aporia
