‘Yes, I do’: Alberta Premier Smith promises not to hold later separation referendum if remain side wins October vote

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith promises that if the remain side of October’s referendum wins, she will “listen to the will of the people,” and not hold another later referendum on independence.

Smith announced this week that a question on independence will be added to the already-set Oct. 19 referendum in Alberta.

It will not, however, ask Albertans whether they want to stay a part of Canada or separate. Instead, the question will ask Albertans whether they want to remain a part of Canada, or should the province “commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”

While Smith has explicitly said she wants Alberta to stay within Canada, she has faced criticism for enabling the referendum to go forward in the first place, namely by changing the law to make it easier for petitioners to trigger one.

Asked by CTV Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday whether she promises, as long as she’s premier, not to hold a separation referendum, if the remain side wins in October, Smith said: “Yes, I do.”

“I will listen to the will of the people, and that’s why I’m going to be advocating on that side,” she said.

“But you know, it goes the other way as well,” she added. “That if Albertans vote the other way, then we’ll have to begin the legal process to get to a binding referendum.”

The premier said she believes there will be “very severe consequences” of voting to launch an independence referendum process, and that she’ll be both voting and advocating for the remain side in October.

‘Far worse for this to linger’: Smith

Pressed on whether the number of signatures collected on two petitions — both the pro-federalist Forever Canadian petition and the struck-down Stay Free Alberta separation petition — is an accurate representation of the number of people who want a referendum, Smith said the issue needs to be resolved either way so everyone can move on from it.

“This debate has been lingering on, some might say decades, but certainly fiercely over the past two years,” Smith said. “And I would like to have five months to debate it. I will be supporting the remain side.

Kapelos also asked Smith whether moving ahead with the referendum is to appease the portion of her base who want it, as her counterpart in Ontario Doug Ford intimated when speaking to reporters Friday.

And, pressed again on her role in the referendum, considering her changes to the petition law and her decision not to take several available off-ramps to avoid the vote, Smith insisted the referendum process is “direct democracy.”

“My view is that you don’t just eliminate the anger that people have by ignoring it,” she said. “I think if you try to ignore it or suppress it, it can grow into something out of control.”

“I think it would be far worse for this to linger on for years, creating more and more division, more and more frustration,” she also said. “I think that we have five months now to have it out, make the case, and be able to vote on it, and move on.”

You can watch Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s full interview on CTV Question Period Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.