Alberta premier Danielle Smith is desperate to rev up the Alberta Federal Grievance Industry again, in spite of Carney actually doing a lot of what Alberta says it wants. And she is grasping at any excuse to blame someone else for Alberta's likely-huge deficit.
So on Thursday Smith decided to pander to her MapleMAGA base by announcing a fall referendum on immigration, with a few swipes at federal powers too (subtext: shiftless brown immigrants and Ottawa civil servants are costing you money!!!!)
So where did these "problems" come from? Just two years ago Smith was complaining to Trudeau that Alberta needed thousands more spaces in the Provincial Nomination Program, especially for Ukrainian refugees.
Now, all of a sudden, immigration is a Big Problem that Alberta should be Big Mad about.
So where did these "problems" come from? Just two years ago Smith was complaining to Trudeau that Alberta needed thousands more spaces in the Provincial Nomination Program, especially for Ukrainian refugees.
Now, all of a sudden, immigration is a Big Problem that Alberta should be Big Mad about.
The Breakdown describes it as Separatism By Any Other Name...
...Many pundits and observers have clearly stated that Smith wants, and maybe even needs a campaign. She’s at her best when she’s meeting with people directly, not in the legislature.
A polarizing referendum gives her the opportunity to control with certainty what she wouldn’t be able to control in an early election, the election question.
And with a referendum, she gets complete control over what the questions are, how they are framed, where she gets to place herself, and perhaps most importantly, where she gets to place her opponents.
The referendum she announced tonight has two major themes.
The first is immigration.
Even Smith acknowledged that because she is attempting to alter the social fabric of the province so drastically, she needs a mandate to do so.
How does she intend to alter it?
On October 19, 2026, Smith will be asking Albertans for a mandate to...
-Giving Alberta greater control over immigration in order to decrease it and prioritizing Albertan jobs to Albertans first.
-Introducing a law to limit access to services to only Canadian citizens, permanent residents or people that Alberta approves of.
-Introducing a low requiring 12 months of residency in Alberta before accessing Alberta social programs.
-Charging fees for non-citizens or non-permanent residents to access healthcare and education.
-Requiring proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate, or citizenship card to vote in provincial elections.
So while many Americans are preparing for midterms that many expect will be the first major repudiation of MAGA, Danielle SMith is embracing some of their core principles.
But that’s not all...
Smith is also bringing forward 4 questions on constitutional changes.
Despite the requirements for constitutional change being outside of the reach of a single province, Smith will be asking Albertans if they...
-Believe that provincial governments should appoint all judges at all levels.
-Believe that the senate should be abolished.
-Believe that provinces should be allowed to opt out of federal programs “intruding on provincial jurisdiction such as health, education, and social services, without losing any of the associated federal funding” for use in their own provincial social programs.
-Believe that provincial laws should be given supremacy when they are in conflict with federal laws.
It is the last two that Albertans should be paying closest attention to in this bunch.
Smith has framed the relationship between the provinces and the federal government as one being locked in eternal conflict and is creating a de facto state of administrative separation instead of a literal one that separatists are advocating for across the province (albeit in smaller numbers than they would like to admit).
Again, any of these constitutional changes are outside of the reach of a single province to enact and if Alberta’s last referendum on equalization is any kind of barometer on the direct weight and consequence of what these questions can accomplish, they are likely of little concern in that context.
But that’s far from the real point, or the real risks.
Canada is under attack economically and under threat geographically from it’s former best friend. Donald Trump and his ilk have repeatedly made threats of taking over Canada and making it the 51st state.
At perhaps one of the most important times in Canada’s history for national unity to be a priority, Smith is seeking a mandate to drive a wedge directly into the heart of Confederation.
Make no mistake, with this last batch of questions, the subtext of all of these questions is, “Are you an Albertan first or a Canadian first?” There’s no room in this referendum for those identities to be equally weighted.
And that fact alone shows a fundamental failure to meet the demands of the moment on behalf of the people she has been elected to represent.
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