Liberals and Conservatives urge 'decisive' Alberta referendum vote to remain in Canada
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Liberals → urge → Canada
Ottawa wants to put separatism to bed, but polls show most Albertans have doubts
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Albertans → want → doubts
In the final days leading to the Alberta referendum, federal Liberals and Conservatives are on the same page, each hoping to put to bed any question of the province's place in Canada.
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each → lead → Canada
On Monday, Albertans will vote on whether they want to remain a province in Canada or start the legal process toward holding a binding referendum on leaving the country.
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they → vote → country
In their respective campaigning efforts, the government and the Official Opposition have urged Albertans to decisively vote to remain.
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government → urge → Albertans
Prime Minister Mark Carney headlined a rally in Calgary on Thursday where he called for "a decisive result on Monday to settle this question."
Conservative MP Dane Lloyd — the caucus lead for the party's own Conservatives for Canada campaign — made an equivalent appeal in an exclusive interview on Rosemary Barton Live that aired Sunday morning.
"We need to ensure that every patriotic Canadian, Albertan gets out to vote so that we can have an overwhelmingly decisive vote for a stronger Alberta within a united Canada," Lloyd said.
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Lloyd → headline → Canada
Liberal MP Corey Hogan said there's likely no "magic number" that would put the issue of Alberta separation to rest.
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that → say → rest
He told CBC's Rosemary Barton that the measure for success is whether there will be "an understanding from all political actors in this province that we can never do this again."
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we → tell → this
Recent polling from Abacus Data suggests that 68 per cent of voters would opt to keep Alberta a province of Canada, while 24 per cent would vote to start the legal process to hold a binding referendum on separating from the country.
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cent → suggest → country
The Abacus survey, which was conducted from Oct. 7 to 13, polled 1,021 Alberta voters.
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which → conduct → voters
The survey's data was weighted according to census data, to ensure its sample matched Alberta's population.
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sample → weight → population
The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is approximately plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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margin → base → 20
Still, the polling suggests that most voters don't expect Monday's referendum will reliably bookend the issue.
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referendum → suggest → issue
Abacus found that 61 per cent of the survey's respondents said at some point, they expect to vote again on Alberta separation after Monday.
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they → find → Monday
According to Hogan, who represents the riding of Calgary Confederation, a separatist sentiment is just a reality in Alberta.
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sentiment → accord → Alberta
"Alberta separatism has been a thing my entire life," he said.
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he → say → ?
Danielle Smith has said no to a second referendum.
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Smith → say → referendum
But that decision might not be hers to make
Poilievre urges Albertans to embrace Canada: 'We don’t take our ball and go home'
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We → make → ball
"It's always been a reality worth addressing, it's always been a problem that there's a number of people in Alberta who have concerns with the country as a whole," Hogan said.
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Hogan → address → whole
"But it's not realistic to say this is going to go to zero, because it's never been at zero in Alberta."
Hogan added that "we need to make sure that there are political consequences to this," suggesting Albertans have become increasingly frustrated with their provincial government for carrying out the referendum process.
"
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Albertans → say → process
We're going to have to see where this all is on Oct. 20," he said.
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he → go → Oct.
"I'm certainly not calling the game at this particular moment, but it's very important that we as a province have a serious talk about how we ended up here in the first place."
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we → call → place
For their part, Conservatives point to the Liberal government as a main irritant in Alberta's relationship with Canada.
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Conservatives → point → Canada
Lloyd, who represents the Alberta riding of Parkland in Parliament, said he held roundtable discussions with Albertans as part of the Conservatives for Canada campaign, "and the message that I heard that was overwhelmingly clear was that people don't have a problem with Canada, they have a problem with Ottawa."
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they → represent → Ottawa
At the same time, the current federal government hasn't been shy about acknowledging Ottawa's role in Albertan discontent.
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government → acknowledge → discontent
During his Thursday rally, Carney said that growing up in Alberta, "I remember how Ottawa made Albertans feel like our resources weren't our own.
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resources → say → Alberta
"This is about Alberta feeling like its contributions haven't always been respected," Hogan said.
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Hogan → feel → ?
"We need to make sure that this whole country sees this whole country and that we are thinking about this whole country as we build policy for this country."
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we → need → country
Listed before the consequential 10th question concerning a binding separation referendum, Monday's ballot notably includes nine others.
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ballot → list → others
The first nine questions are focused on immigration and constitutional reform, including a query on whether Alberta should take more control over immigration, the responsibility for which is currently shared between the federal and provincial governments in Canada.
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responsibility → focus → Canada
Quebec is alone in having distinct powers regarding the selection of its immigrants.
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Quebec → have → immigrants
Who else besides Danielle Smith is saying 'yes to the nine' in Alberta's referendum?
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Who → say → referendum
Carney says Albertans should vote ‘No to the Nine’ in referendum
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has advocated for voters to choose "yes" on the ballot's first nine questions, while Carney was clear in urging Albertans to reject them.
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Carney → say → them
Asked where the Conservatives stand on the first nine questions, Lloyd said the party's campaign has been "laser-focused" on the issue of a separation referendum "and that issue alone."
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campaign → ask → referendum
"Immigration has always involved federal-provincial conversations, and I think that they've been largely productive and largely fruitful," the Liberals' Hogan said.
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Hogan → involve → conversations
"We don't need people trying to hold guns to each other's heads to have constructive relationships in Canada."
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people → need → Canada
The Aporia
