Alberta LEAVES Canada？ - New Update! A Chat With APP CEO, Mitch Sylvestre - Independence Referendum
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
184.05411
Summary
In this episode, I speak with Mitch Sylvester, CEO of the Alberta Prosperity Project, about the upcoming referendum on Alberta's independence from Canada in the spring of 2026. We talk about a variety of topics, including: 1. What would Alberta look like on day 1 after becoming independent from Canada? 2. What is the first 30-90-100 days look like after Alberta becomes independent? 3. What are the challenges facing Alberta? 4. Is there a figurehead or leader for the movement? 5. What does it mean to be an independent country?
Transcript
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For the average working-class Albertan, how would their day-to-day life change for the better?
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Salaries, taxes, affordability, general freedom, gun laws, gun rights, property rights.
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What does it look like for your average Albertan?
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So, as far as I'm concerned, gun rights are going to be the same as the U.S.
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Okay, so the other night we traveled to Bonneville, a small town in northeastern Alberta,
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The event happened earlier this week, and it was hosted by the Alberta Prosperity Project,
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which is an after-profit organization leading the effort to have an independence referendum in the spring of 2026.
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I was impressed with the amount of people who showed up for a small town on a Monday evening.
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There must have been at least 400 people in there by the time the event started.
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After the rally, I had a chance to speak with Mitch Sylvester for a couple of minutes.
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He's the CEO of the Alberta Prosperity Project, and I asked him some of the questions that I've read in the comments from this channel.
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Now, this was my first on-camera interview, so please bear with me.
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All right, so we're here with Mitch Sylvester, CEO of Alberta Prosperity Project.
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This is my first time interviewing people, okay?
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But anyway, we have five questions here that are asked by my subscribers that have to do with Alberta independence.
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The first one is, what does Alberta look like on day one after it becomes independent from Canada?
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Would there be a constitution? What would it look like generally on day one after it becomes independent?
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I think we're going to have a constitutional conference, and on day one, I think that's the most important thing to do.
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Get the people of Alberta to weigh in on what's going to happen.
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The government has to understand that everything is going to change, and that's our path at any rate.
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So what we're saying is that, you know, it's a draft.
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It's going to be up for discussion, and that's the whole point of it.
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But it's a starting point, so people can say, okay, well, this is what we're going to do, or this is what we hope to do.
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And this is what we're going to do to ensure your rights and freedoms so we don't go back into the mess that we're in.
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And then part two of that question is, what do the first 30 to 100 days look like?
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We're talking private sector, public sector, constitutionality, you already touched on that, international efforts, international recognition, military.
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We're talking once we've already won a referendum.
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What do the first 30 days to 90 days, 100 days look like?
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Well, I don't think there's going to be a whole bunch of changes in the first 120, even six months.
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I mean, there's going to be a process to get all that moving.
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And if you do that, then what, you know, it's going to take some time.
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We're not expecting to all of a sudden have everything done.
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The government that's in power is going to have to help us get to where we're going.
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And Danielle has said she will respect the results of this referendum.
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So she respects the results and she'll be part of the plan going forward to make the changes.
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So there's a lot of talk about having a figurehead or leader.
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Does this movement need a specific leader or a face who represents the movement?
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And have you had anyone come forward of notoriety besides you guys, the three that are leading it?
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The people of Alberta have to understand that they have to be the face of this.
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The people have to understand that they lead this.
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And they have to not only lead this, they have to continue to participate in a democracy moving forward.
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I don't believe that we want a politician of any kind to lead this.
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And I think that's a strong point as far as we're concerned.
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And right now, we're actually hoping that the people understand the fact that they have to leave this movement.
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Many of my YouTube viewers are from the United States and strongly support Alberta independence.
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As a leader in the movement, yourself, the CEO, what message do you have for our brothers and sisters south of the border?
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And is there anything they can do to advance the cause from their standpoint?
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Well, the easiest thing they can do is support us financially.
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And so, as a consequence to that, if they could support us financially, that would help because it's going to help us get the message out.
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We're absolutely convinced that once people hear this and understand this, that we will win this.
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Because I really believe that there is only one side to this argument.
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And then the last question, what would an independent Alberta look like for the average working class Albertan?
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How would their day-to-day life change for the better?
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Salaries, taxes, affordability, general freedom, gun laws, gun rights, property rights.
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What does it look like for your average Albertan?
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So, as far as I'm concerned, gun rights are going to be the same as the U.S.
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Property rights, we're going to try and get property rights, because right now we don't have any.
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We're assuming and hoping, and it's going to be, we're working on the business plan right now,
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that we're thinking that Albertans will be 20 to 25 percent richer based on what they're doing right now.
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And that will give them more purchasing power and a nicer life.
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Now, during our conversation, Mitch mentioned that a draft of a potential Alberta constitution
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has already been prepared by the Alberta Prosperity Project,
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and we can expect to hear more about it in the days ahead.
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What I appreciate about the APP is that it's a citizen-led initiative.
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From the volunteers to the leadership, it's made up of everyday Albertans, entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers,
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And honestly, that gives the movement more credibility, in my view.
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At a recent event with Premier Danielle Smith, Mitch had the chance to ask her some direct questions
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about the provincial government's efforts to advance Alberta's interest.
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He also brought up some recent polling that shows support for Alberta independence hitting as high as 45%.
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The Premier responded by referencing polling she had seen showing around 35% ready to vote yes,
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30% undecided but open to it, and one-third firmly opposed.
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I would like to thank you for coming again, actually.
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Well, I'd like to thank you for organizing this again.
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Now, we were joking about this is the third annual trip that we've had,
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and I remember the first time I said this was going to be our first annual,
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So thank you for lowering the threshold of the Citizens Initiative.
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Well, and thank you for bringing so many people to the AGM to propose that.
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We heard loud and clear that it looked like it was legislation that was designed to never be successful,
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And the fact that in six years we've never seen a petition campaign get started,
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I think that people didn't even bother to put a question forward because the bar was so unachievable.
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So I think that you paved the way with some of the advocacy you did last year as well at the AGM,
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So I want to share with everybody in the room that we can trigger a referendum today with the support that we have.
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The polls are suggesting that up to 44% of Albertans support separation.
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If that's the case, Premier, what percentage of you think of that would be UCP?
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There is a poll out by, I think, Angus Reid today.
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I haven't had a chance to look at it in detail.
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It has it a little bit lower, still higher than they were expected.
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It was about 36%, and I think it's, you know, 50-50 when it comes down to UCP voters.
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But that's, I think, it wouldn't surprise me in this room if we saw that same kind of split,
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that there's about a third of people who are ready to go today,
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a third of people who, well, it doesn't matter what the audible will do,
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and a third that are open to being convinced based on whether or not we see action one way or the other.
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And so we're just trying to have that conversation.
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I fully appreciate why people are fed up after 10 years of being treated the way that we have,
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knowing especially it's almost all the same cabinet ministers
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who made these same terrible policies who are still there.
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However, I also know that leadership can change direction.
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I don't know if this particular leader will change direction,
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Special thanks to those of you who have donated to this project.
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It is much appreciated, and it helps me continue making videos.