PM Carney: ‘We’re renovating the country as we go, and Alberta being at the centre of that is essential’

OTTAWA - As Albertans brace for a fall vote on whether there should be a referendum on leaving Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney made a point on Friday of stating that Canada is the best country in the world, and his government is committed to work with Alberta to make it even better.

“Canada is working. We’re working in a spirit of co-operative federalism to make the country better. We’re renovating the country as we go, and Alberta being at the centre of that is essential,” Carney said.

His comments on the looming separation debate in that province were made amid a tour of ongoing renovations on Parliament Hill, in which he alluded to the work underway around him in the Library of Parliament, which he said reminded him of the “huge contributions of Albertans to this country in the past, in the present, in the future.”

“This building is in the process of renovation, as I said, it’s going to be better than ever when it’s finished… Just like Canada. Canada is the greatest country in the world, but it can be better. And we’re working on making it better. We’re working with Alberta on making it better.”

Carney then pointed to the recent agreement with Alberta towards new energy projects and said he’s similarly working with other provinces on opportunities that will bring jobs to their regions.

Last night during a televised address, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced that Alberta’s will be going to the polls Oct. 19 to vote on whether there should be a referendum on the province leaving Canada.

The question being put to the province is: “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada, or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”

Doubling down on his metaphor, Carney said the work underway in Centre Block will still be going on in the years ahead, but the work of Parliament is continuing in the building next door, as is the federal government’s national improvement project.

“I look forward to working alongside Premier Smith, alongside the leader of the Opposition, alongside all parliamentarians, all 37 members from Alberta, and Canadians of all stripes, Albertans of all stripes, to build a better Alberta, build a better Canada,” the prime minister said.

Asked what he would be willing to do to work with the federal government to keep the country together, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he, and his party love Canada and will be fighting for national unity “every day, in every way.”

“We’re going to reach out to Albertans in every corner of the province to make the case for our wonderful country, and we’re going to do it through hope. We want Albertans to understand that they can have an even better future in our country,” Poilievre said, speaking in Surrey, B.C.

The official opposition leader also said he thinks it’s the prime minister’s job to unite the country, “and that if the country is not united, that too is the responsibility of the prime minister.”

While Smith on Friday called herself “fiercely loyal to both Alberta and Canada,” the NDP’s sole Alberta MP accused her of “stoking division” and “appeasing separatists.”

“This is not what Albertans need right now,” said NDP House Leader Heather McPherson in an interview from Edmonton. “She made a choice to put that referendum question on the ballot, and I think it’s a huge, huge mistake.”

McPherson added that while it’s incumbent on political leaders from all sides to speak up for Canada, the federal government also has a responsibility to address Albertans’ legitimate concerns, from health care to the economy.

In her view, the Ottawa-Alberta memorandum of understanding won’t be enough to satisfy those who want to separate. “He thinks that he can dangle a pipeline in front of the separatists and make them go away, and that’s not going to happen,” McPherson said.