Hundreds of people in red-and-white clothing waved Canadian flags, cheered as honking cars passed by and sang “O Canada” at a launch event for a campaign aiming to stop Alberta from quitting Confederation.
Thomas Lukaszuk, Alberta’s former deputy premier, said his Forever Canadian campaign will see him and hundreds of volunteers zigzagging from the province’s north to the south in his “Unity Bus” to encourage Albertans to vote for staying in Canada in an October referendum.
“I will be on the road for the next six months, riding in this bus from town to town, campground to campground,” he told the crowd outside his campaign’s new headquarters in Edmonton’s northwest.
“This is definitely the most important vote in the history of this province. This country cannot be broken up by anybody.”
He said the campaign will include door-knocking, lawn signs stamped with the Canadian flag, and fact-checked information for Albertans on how important voter turnout is and how to sign up in the referendum.
Lukaszuk, who led the gathering of signatures for a federalist petition called Forever Canadian, said his campaign’s goal is to obtain a clear majority.
“We live in a phenomenal country,” he said.
“There are Canadians born all over the world. Some like me and some of you are lucky to be born here. We’re going to fight for this together,” said the Polish-born Canadian.
Premier Danielle Smith announced in a televised address on Thursday that an Oct. 19 referendum question will ask Albertans if they want to remain in Canada or start the process to hold a binding referendum on separation.
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Smith has said she couldn’t directly put separation on the ballot because a judge earlier this month quashed a separatist petition looking to force such a vote.
The judge said the Stay Free Alberta petition shouldn’t have been green-lit because Smith’s government neglected its duty to consult First Nations. Smith has said her government will be appealing the decision.
She has also said the more than 400,000 signatures the Forever Canadian petition garnered, and the roughly 300,000 signatures the Stay Free Alberta petition got, indicates that more than 700,000 Albertans want to put the province’s future in Confederation on a ballot this fall.
The separatist petition hasn’t been verified by Elections Alberta while Lukaszuk’s petition was verified in December.
On Saturday, while standing in front of the same “Unity Bus” he used while collecting signatures for his Forever Canadian petition, Lukaszuk disagreed with Smith’s comments.
“The fact is that the people collected signatures and signed the Forever Canadian petition to prevent a referendum from happening because we knew that separatists were going to file,” he said.
“Thousands of people can attest to the fact, frankly, they don’t want a referendum. It’s being hoisted upon us. We didn’t ask for this but since the premier wants a referendum we will be there and we will vote.”
Lukaszuk also said he is open to working with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who said this week all Conservative MPs will press for Alberta to vote to stay in Canada.
“This campaign will have many other smaller campaigns, and theirs will be one of them,” Lukaszuk said.
“As long as we’re all rowing in the same direction, and as long it is about Alberta staying in Canada, I will gladly work with anybody.”
Saturday’s event was also attended by Eleanor Olszewski, the Liberal federal minister responsible for prairies economic development and the representative for Edmonton Centre.
She said Prime Minister Mark Carney ran on a platform to unite Canada and will continue to do so.
“I grew up in southern Alberta in Medicine Hat,” she told the crowd.
“I raised my family here, built my career here and I continue to live here. To this day, my identity as an Albertan is completely wrapped up with my identity as a Canadian. No one should be telling us that we have to make a decision about those two aspects of who we are. These are trying times.”
Mitch Sylvestre, the head of Stay Free Alberta, did not immediately respond to request for comment on whether his separatist group will also be launching a provincewide campaign.
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