Alberta premier leaves door open to pursuing some referendum initiatives even with ‘no’ vote

“I want to get a mandate from Albertans,” said Premier Danielle Smith as she provided more details on October’s provincial referendum, which will ask voters’ opinions on a variety of topics from immigration to constitutional issues, at a Thursday morning news conference.

Smith announced in February that she will put nine questions to Albertans, including proposals to restrict social services from some immigrants, whether the government of Alberta should push to have the federal Senate abolished, whether the Canadian Constitution should be amended to allow provincial governments to select the justices appointed to provincial King’s Bench and Appeal courts, and if the Constitution should be amended to give provincial laws, that deal with areas of shared constitutional jurisdiction priority over federal laws.

Asked by reporters if she would “accept the will of the majority, whatever way these questions go,” Smith said, “I’m of the view that you ask people questions that you want to get the answer to so that you can act on them.”

“It’s also the reason why we put questions that we think we already have the majority of Albertans on board with.”

However, when pressed several times by reporters if her government would respect a “no” outcome on any of the referendum questions, Smith responded with “we’ll address it at that time.”

In a clarification sent to Global News after publication, the Premier’s office expanded on that position in a written statement.

“The premier will listen to the will of Albertans when they vote on these government referendum questions,” said press secretary Sam Blackett. “If an initiative receives a ‘no’ vote, the government will re-evaluate its approach to align with the will of Albertans.”

While Smith is hoping for a strong turnout from Albertans, she said her government will not be a bystander during the lead-up to the referendum.

“We’re going to be out actively persuading the public that this is the direction we want to go.”

As part of that campaign, the Alberta government also launched a new website —AlbertaReferendum2026.ca — to allow voters to view the ballot questions along with background about the issues and why the questions are being asked.

One issue that is not on the ballot so far is the issue of Alberta separation.

The separatist group Stay Free Alberta is currently collecting signatures on a citizens’ petition calling for a referendum on Alberta’s independence.

It claims it has already surpassed the signature threshold, and Smith has said she would put any question on the ballot should proponents get the required number of signatures.

However, a recent court challenge launched by several Alberta First Nations, who claim the petition process is a violation of their treaties, has thrown into doubt whether there will be a referendum on Alberta’s independence this fall.

In her ruling, Justice Shaina Leonard said the separation proponents can continue to collect signatures on their petition, but the province cannot proceed any further until the First Nations’ constitutional concerns — and claims they have not been properly consulted — have been dealt with by the courts.

Smith said the she expects a court ruling sometime in May.

Organizers of another anti-separation petition called “Forever Canadian” have collected more than 400,000 signatures from Albertans to keep the province in Canada.

That petition is currently being discussed by a committee of the Alberta legislature to decide the next steps.

Asked if that petition’s question — “Do you agree that Alberta should remain within Canada?” — might also be on the referendum ballot, Smith said she is waiting for the advice of the committee.

She says the final list of questions should be available by mid-July.

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