A large gathering packed a Calgary banquet hall on Monday night to hear from a group of Albertans proposing the province is better off without the rest of Canada. The organization, which calls itself the Alberta Prosperity Project, held a rally at the Astoria Banquet Hall to discuss the wording of a proposed referendum question. That question, the group says, will be: “Do you agree that the province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province of Canada – yes or no?” It says it wants support from 600,000 Albertans for its campaign before it efforts a petition. Organizers said they would also push Premier Danielle Smith to fast-track a separation referendum for later this year instead of during Alberta’s next general election. They also want Smith to join their cause. “She understands now that over 65 per cent of the (United Conservative Party) base are on side with what we’re offering Albertans,” said organizer Jeff Rath. “At the end of the day, she is going through her exercises with (Prime Minister) Mark Carney where Carney is going to offer her some inducements to try and temper her demands, but there is nothing that Mark Carney can offer Alberta. “He’s certainly not going to offer us freedom from federal regulation.” The rally is one of 50 planned by the group. It claims it has already secured more than 240,000 pledges in support of separation, surpassing the number required according to the United Conservative government’s new legislation. Exact numbers of the gathering were not provided, but Alberta Prosperity Project claimed more than 1,000 were in attendance. Once it’s ready to collect signatures for the referendum petition, the Alberta Prosperity Project aims to hold events in all 87 Alberta ridings.
