Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told Ontario Premier Doug Ford to mind his own business when it comes to whether Albertans pursue an independence referendum.
Smith held a press conference on Tuesday, a day after she announced plans to send a negotiating team to Ottawa and create the Alberta Next task force to assert Alberta’s sovereignty.
“I don’t tell him how he should run his province, and I would hope that he doesn’t tell me how I should run mine,” said Smith. “But we have a very respectful relationship and I hope that continues.”
Despite telling Ford to butt out, Smith said the two premiers have a “great friendship,” although they don’t agree on everything.
“In fact, I think we supported different people in the last federal election,” said Smith, suggesting that Ford, despite being a Conservative premier, might have voted for Mark Carney.
Smith also commented on Alberta’s growing separatist movement.
She said she’d respect any citizen-led referenda, including those pushing for separation. However, Smith explained on Tuesday that she wants to see the number of Albertans supporting separation decrease, not grow.
As of right now, Smith said she expects that slightly more than 30 per cent of Albertans would support a separation referendum.
“Citizens have a right to express their opinion on things that they’re concerned about,” said Smith. “And, I think it’s my job to make sure that debate is respectful.”
Smith fielded media questions after addressing the province yesterday. On Monday, she issued a list of demands to Ottawa in her speech and pledged an Alberta separation referendum in 2026 if the legal threshold is met.
While it was initially expected that the referendums could take place at the province’s next set of municipal elections in October 2025, Smith said this timeline was unlikely to work out given the 120-day signature collection period.
Smith hasn’t put her government’s support behind separation. However, the Alberta UCP previously lowered the legal referendum threshold from 20 per cent of all registered electors across Alberta to 10 per cent of ballots cast in the last general election. For a separatist referendum, this means the required amount of signatures fell from 600,000 to 177,000 Albertans.
While some Albertans have argued that First Nations leaders could stop separation, others have claimed that no group, including the Indigenous, could unilaterally veto a majority vote for separation.
Smith avoided questions referencing any specific type of referendum question, not wanting to prejudge what citizens might put forward as a question.