Tag Archives: Alberta referendum

Politics

History-making nine-question referendum punts Alberta into unprecedented territory

By George Lee, The Macleod Gazette, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Editor’s Note: Light profanity appears in a direct quotation in this story.

A nine-question referendum announced by the premier Thursday charts new territory for direct democracy, as the government looks to define and entrench an Alberta approach for dealing with immigration and Ottawa.

The United Conservative Party (UCP) initiative appears to feature the most — and most complex — federal or provincial questions ever asked on a single referendum ballot in the country’s history.

The electorate’s participation will help the government shield Albertans from an intrusive Ottawa and its potentially harmful policies, Danielle Smith said during a televised and streamed address.

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Politics

Separatism: Most Albertans Don’t Buy IT! – new Angus Reid poll finds

It has been a week since Premier Danielle Smith declared “I support a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.” 

On January 2, Elections Alberta approved the Alberta Prosperity Project’s petition for ‘a Referendum Relating to Alberta Independence.’ If they can obtain 177,732 signatures, it will trigger a referendum on whether Alberta should separate from Canada and become an independent state. 

A new Angus Reid poll suggests that most Albertans aren’t buying into the separatism. 57% of the respondents stated they would definitely vote to stay in Canada; only 8% would definitely vote to separate. If you add in the people who are leaning one way or the other, these numbers change to 65% vs 29%.

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