Canada PM warns ‘stakes are high’ as Alberta separation vote nears

Canada PM warns ‘stakes are high’ as Alberta separation vote nears

Prime Minister Mark Carney has urged Albertans to vote to remain in Canada ahead of an independence referendum on Monday, warning that the “stakes are high”.

Speaking at a pro-unity rally on Thursday in Calgary, Carney said the referendum is taking place “at the worst possible time” and called on voters to deliver a “decisive result” against separation.

More than 450,000 Albertans have already voted early or by mail on a question asking if they wish the province to remain part of Canada, or start the process of holding a binding referendum to separate.

Campaigners on both sides are making their final pitches, though polls indicate most Albertans appear supportive of remaining in Canada.

Still, Carney said Albertans should not assume that the result is decided based on the polling alone.

“Turnout will determine the outcome,” he told a crowd of more than 7,000 in Calgary.

Thursday’s rally is one of two back-to-back pro-unity events that the prime minister is scheduled to attend in Alberta, with another one set for tomorrow in Edmonton, his hometown.

Earlier in the day, Carney toured several businesses in Calgary and spoke to pro-unity volunteers in a get-out-the-vote push.
The 19 October referendum was called by the province’s premier Danielle Smith earlier this year after a grassroots group gathered around 300,000 petition signatures asking for a binding referendum on separation.

Smith, a Conservative whose political base includes supporters of independence, has advocated for Alberta to remain in Canada but has said the referendum is a chance to hear directly from Albertans on the issue.

Supporters of separation say the oil-rich, landlocked province has been overlooked by federal politicians in Ottawa despite the wealth it contributes to Canada.

Successive Liberal governments of the last 10 years, they argue, have put environmental policies above helping Alberta develop its oil and gas sector, and that Alberta would get to keep more of its wealth if it splits from Canada.