The unity bus stopped in Calgary Saturday. Former Alberta deputy premier and Forever Canadian leader Thomas Lukaszuk was on hand at Parkdale United Church helping distribute lawn signs to Calgarians who want to show support for remaining part of Canada. Lukaszuk said the movement spans the entire province, with around 160 pop-up locations, where more than 18,000 volunteers are distributing lawn signs. He said the response to his movement, which was launched as a petition against holding a separation referendum, has been overwhelming. The petition drew 404,000 verified signatures and Lukaszuk says momentum is building. “It’s a massive movement,” he said, “and these signs are in really high demand because everybody wants to show their pride in Canada.” “By far most Albertans are proponents of (national) unity,” he added, “so they want to show their pride, and so we’re giving them a venue to to show their pride, and people are also mobilizing to go out and vote because, as we all know, there is a referendum coming up.” The referendum is scheduled for Oct. 19. ‘Not about status quo’ Lukaszuk said that while Alberta has a few friction points with Ottawa, now is not the time to break up. “The Forever Canadian movement is not about status quo,” he said. “We too recognize that there is room for improvement, but separation is not the answer. “Let’s negotiate,” he said. “Let’s have a national dialogue. Let’s put demands forward to Ottawa, but separation is not the answer. “So, if your goal was to just send a message to Ottawa, your message has been sent and has been heard, not only by Ottawa but also by this entire Forever Canadian movement.” ‘Canadians understand we have to stay united’ Lukaszuk called for unity to help the country in its trade war with the U.S. “Canadians understand that we have to stay united and stick together,” he said, “and not have any internal disputes because those disputes will be taken advantage of by external powers, like we see with the United States. “You know they’re using the fact that we’re talking about separation (in) Alberta. That is why they’re referring to us as the 51st state. That is why they are referring to Canadian prime ministers as governors. That is why they’re meeting with separatists in Washington -- because they want to take advantage of that.” The unity bus also stopped in Cochrane Saturday afternoon and is scheduled to make stops in Red Deer and Sylvan Lake this weekend. With files from CTV News’ Tommy Osborne
