Lorne Gunter: Premier juggling priorities on 'separatist referendum' debate
Smith has done a good job so far handling demands for a referendum, but she has to be careful not to repeat the overwrought “warnings” of federalists.
Frankly, the fall vote that’s being called the “separatist referendum” is not a vote on separation. As has been pointed out by others, it’s a vote on whether to hold a vote on separation. But I don’t see that Premier Danielle Smith had many other palatable options.
Smith has to reconcile several irreconcilable groups — her own caucus, her wider party, the province’s pro-Confederation voters, a wary public. The only way to do that is to pick off … um, “contain” each of these groups one at a time.
First came the separatists who were the group that promised to cause her the most trouble. Once a crusading federal judge appointed by Justin Trudeau had made up some new constitutional obligation to consult First Nations in advance (before a law or referendum had even been approved), Smith had to do something to take the momentum out of the hands of the separatists.
Stay Free Alberta is convinced it collected 300,000 signatures for a separatist referendum — more than required by provincial law. Smith was never going to please the separatist pitbulls with anything less than a full-fledged referendum on whether Alberta should stay in Canada or go, as evidenced by the purple outrage they displayed when Smith didn’t immediately acquiesce to their desires.
Their demands got louder. Their threats to take over her party or have her thrown from office became progressively shriller. Separatist leaders such as Jeffrey Rath and Mitch Sylvestre were in full tantrum mode demanding to be given their way or else.
Smith’s referendum on having a referendum was never going to please them, but at least it cooled things down a little with the separatist-leaning public.
She also had to face down her party’s president, her cabinet and her caucus — none of those are easy tasks for a leader. But she now has them all singing from the same song sheet (although some may not be putting their whole heart into it).
To know the full public reaction, we’ll have to wait until the campaign picks up for the Oct. 19 vote. We may even have to wait for the results to get a proper idea of the public’s thinking.
Currently, the pro-separatist forces are doing some of the heavy lifting for Smith. With their enflamed rhetoric and their do-as-we-say demands, separatists are putting off many of the general voters they would need to win a province-wide vote.
On the flip side, Smith has to avoid playing fiddle for the progressive federalists who are trying to win the hearts and minds of Albertans with scare tactics, especially about the economic impact of an independence vote.
On the one hand, Smith said Saturday on her weekly radio broadcast that with the resignation of former environment minister Steven Guilbeault from the Liberal caucus, the Liberal policies that stood in the way of Alberta’s energy sector for 10 years “are all gone.”
