Danielle Smith reacts to UCP MLA op-ed inviting signatures for separation referendum

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith responds to an op-ed from an MLA calling for signatures for separation referendum.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Saturday that for her, “a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada” means Alberta stays.

Smith was reacting to UCP MLA Jason Stephan’s recent comments in an op-ed column in The Western Standard.

In that piece, Stephan said he invited Albertans to sign the separation petition.

“Signing the petition supports your right to vote and decide on the objective merits, yes or no,” he wrote.

“I invite Albertans to act and sign the petition and invite all who love freedom and prosperity to do the same.”

Stephan went on to say, “If Albertans do not act, there will not be a vote.”

“This referendum will hold Ottawa accountable, provide an opportunity for civil and honest discourse in the public square, and let the truth prevail,” he wrote.

The op-ed went live on the publication’s website Friday morning.

It doesn’t indicate whether Stephan himself has signed the separation petition.

Stephan was first elected to the legislature in 2019 and re-elected in 2023. He was appointed the province’s parliamentary secretary for constitutional affairs last year.

‘Alberta stays’

Saturday morning, on her call-in radio program, Your Province, Your Premier, Smith said that her caucus and the government agree with her that Alberta stays.

“I support Alberta sovereignty within a united Canada,” she said. “That means the province of Alberta stays in Canada and we work to get back the rights we have under the constitution.

“That’s what I’ve been working on,” she added. “That’s why i signed an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the federal government to work on getting a pipeline to the coast but also to get control over our electricity system and be able to build out our industry.

“That’s why I’m fighting with them on firearms,” she added. “We don’t want to be confiscating firearms from law abiding gun owners.”

In a Friday afternoon statement, Smith’s office said “individual MLAs are welcome to differ in their personal opinions, but the positions of the government and caucus are clear.”

Stay Free Alberta has until May 2 to collect 177,732 signatures for its petition to be successful.

With files from CTV News Calgary’s Damien Wood