Canadas oil-rich province of Alberta will hold areferendumin October on leavingCanada, but the provinces premier said Thursday it wont actually be a vote on whether to separate.
Danielle Smith said voters instead would be deciding whether its time to hold a referendum on quitting Canada.
I want to be clear. I support Alberta remaining in Canada, and this is how I would vote on separation in a provincial referendum. It is also the position of mygovernment, Smith said in televised remarks.
The question will ask whether Alberta should stay in Canada or take legal steps under the Constitution to hold a binding referendum on leaving.
Ian Brodie, a former chief of staff to ex-Conservative Prime MinisterStephen Harperand a now a politicalscienceprofessor at the University of Calgary, said Smith appears to be proceeding very carefully.
A vote to see if people even want a vote. Its a good way to let the swing voters swing against separation, Brodie said.
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A yes vote in a binding referendum still would not triggerindependence. Negotiations with the federal government would have to take place. A 1998Supreme Courtruling means provinces cannot secede unilaterally from Canada.
Daniel Bland, a politicalscienceprofessor at McGill University in Montreal, noted Smith has publicly opposed independence so some people have compared her stance to the one of Britain's then-Prime MinisterDavid Cameronahead of theBrexitreferendum, which he embraced as a way to manage a vocal faction of his ruling party while not wanting the U.K. to leave theEuropean Union.
Politically Smith seems committed to do so to appease supporters of her own party who want a referendum. If she doesnt follow suit, she might face a potentially perilousmutinywithin her partisan ranks, Bland said.
Earlier Thursday, three members of Smiths United Conservative Party of Alberta caucus passed a motion in committee asking her and her cabinet to put the issue to a referendum on Oct. 19.
Prime Minister Mark Carneys federal Liberal government has been working with Smith to get an oil pipeline to the Pacific coast built to make many Albertans happy.
Canadas government strongly believes that the interests of Albertans and all Canadians are best served when we work together, Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, posted on socialmedia.
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Bland said Smiths question is framed in such a way that some voters could vote in favor of an independence referendum to send a message to the federal government and the rest of Canada without actually taking the risk of voting directly for independence.
It might lower the apparent stakes, making it perhaps easier for some voters to think they can send a political message to the rest of the country without taking the risk of leading the province to the point of no return, he said.
Bland said a possible future referendum is likely to lose as support for separation is slightly less than 30% but said campaigns do matter.
Opposition Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre earlier said he and all Conservative members of Parliament would press for Alberta to remain part of Canada in a referendum campaign.
Smith said a judge made an error last week when she ruled a citizen ledpetitiondesigned to force a referendum was unconstitutional.
In her address, Smith explained that a recent court ruling makes such a binding reference impossible for now, which justifies the new question, Bland said.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
Originally published on France24
