Don Braid: Alberta's pro-Canada forces move to thwart separatists by setting referendum question
On the eve of Canada Day, Elections Alberta approved an official signature drive on the question:
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'Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?'
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If enough signatures are collected, there will be a full provincial vote on the question.
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Thomas Lukaszuk, who leads the pro-Canada campaign, figures that any separatist petition is now dead in the water.
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The legislation governing these votes specifically states that two referenda on the same general subject cannot be approved.
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In other words, you can't have a vote both on whether Alberta should stay in Canada, and another one on whether Alberta should leave.
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Elections Alberta confirms that duelling referenda aren't allowed.
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The authority reviews applications in the order they're received, and Lukaszuk was first to submit a question that met legal requirements.
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The separatist Alberta Prosperity Project wants the referendum question to be: 'Do you agree that the Province of Alberta shall become an independent country and cease to be a province of Canada?'
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Lukaszuk's question is in the political category, meaning a successful vote would force Premier Danielle Smith and the UCP to accept the results.
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While Elections Canada's ruling came down just before Canada Day, Smith's new referendum rules will take effect July 4, America's Independence Day.
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That may be not be intentional, but it sure is suggestive.
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Smith's changes ease the requirement for a referendum to 177,732 signatures, representing 10 per cent of those who voted in the last election.
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