00:00:30.000So you have this news being reported from a local Alberta journalist who works with Global News Radio.
00:00:36.680Alberta NDP leader Nahid Nanshi is claiming a sovereignty referendum will likely be greenlit this week.
00:00:42.560He points to a meeting for the Forever Canadian Committee being called for Wednesday, adding that reports suggest a primetime TV address has been slated for Thursday.
00:00:55.720So it looks like the premier is going to be addressing the province for some major news this coming Thursday.
00:01:01.340So this is the press release. All indications point to Premier Danielle Smith proceeding with a separatist referendum this October, despite having no public mandate.
00:01:09.780She actually does. No legal basis. She actually does. And facing clear opposition from Albertans and First Nations, not all Albertans and not all First Nations.
00:01:20.320Only the chiefs are against it. A lot of band members actually support it, but I digress. The government has scheduled a meeting of the Forever Canadian Committee for Wednesday, May the 20th, and the premier has reportedly spent taxpayer money purchasing airtime for a province-wide TV address on Thursday, May the 21st.
00:01:38.560Quote, Premier Smith wants to run a separatist referendum solely to save her political skin, said Nahid Nenshi, leader of the official opposition of Alberta.
00:01:47.800Quote, we've always known that she owes her job to the separatists.0.85
00:01:51.540She thought she could control them.0.63
00:01:55.620Quote, a referendum on separation, something Danielle Smith never campaigned on, will damage Alberta's economy, delay investment and break apart our country.1.00
00:02:06.140But I know Albertans are proud Canadians.
00:02:07.840we will fight the premier separatist referendum defend alberta and canada and ensure albertans0.97
00:02:12.400stand together against this attack on our country this guy's a damn joke if it was up to these0.94
00:02:16.800people they would literally use the rcmp to quash the alberta independence movement they wouldn't0.96
00:02:23.680even allow the petition campaign no matter how many albertans want it no matter how many people
00:02:29.120sign it a million people could sign it if and if it was up to them they would do what the liberals
00:02:34.960did to the trucker convoy back in 2022 like this people do not they talk about democracy and they
00:02:41.860talk about respecting the rule of law yet they do not respect the will of over 300 000 albertans
00:02:47.980who signed the petition to get a democratic referendum on independence the local news here
00:02:53.800in alberta are also covering this let's watch the organizer behind the forever canadian petition
00:02:58.880could get his chance to speak in front of a committee this week that could decide the
00:03:03.300petition's future. CDB's Nereman Issa joins us now. So, Nereman, what can you tell us about this
00:03:08.260meeting? Well, Matt, Thomas Lukasik says he was told Friday night he may be invited to present
00:03:13.300his case for keeping Alberta in Canada in front of a special committee tomorrow afternoon. Now,
00:03:18.880he says he's not happy his petition could possibly become a referendum question.
00:03:23.200But that's what he signed up for. The form he filled out is calling for a referendum,
00:03:29.180and he knows it but this guy's been running a grift on people who are scared of donald trump
00:03:35.900the whole trump derangement syndrome situation that's happening here in canada getting people
00:03:40.160to sign onto his database for his political ambitions but let's hear what he has to say
00:03:45.620why don't we as he would rather have this discussed in the legislature no vote would be you apply for0.55
00:03:52.480a referendum dude question on a referendum it will be like a poll uh she she'll be polling0.88
00:03:57.980Albertans, but she cannot do anything with the outcome of that question. You applied for a
00:04:02.920referendum, you scumbag. And now you're lying to people, telling them that, oh, I don't want a1.00
00:04:08.440referendum. That's exactly what you applied for. If you go look at the form on the Elections
00:04:14.120Alberta website, it says that he's applying for a referendum. It's just his question was not a
00:04:20.500constitutional one. So the requirements were much lower. He didn't have to collect addresses. I
00:04:26.260I don't even think he had to confirm ID on like the state free Alberta, who a lot of people didn't sign because they don't want to put their address down because they saw what happened to the truckers, the whole frozen bank accounts in Canada.
00:04:37.920A lot of people were afraid of that. But I digress. This guy is just running a grift. He knows he was signing up for a referendum. He knows he knows that. And now he's saying, I don't want a referendum.
00:04:48.760which separatists, I imagine, won't be happy with either
00:04:52.320because they want, you know, action from the Premier.
00:08:40.800Watch for this guy to use his airtime if this is transmitted live or it's televised in any way, shape or form.
00:08:48.480Watch for this guy to use his airtime to continue to run his grift, to continue to fundraise.
00:08:54.360Look at me. I'm in front of the legislature fighting to keep Canada together.
00:08:59.420And I'm fighting for old Canadians and making sure that, you know, you donate to my project and that you sign up to my political database for my future political ambitions.
00:09:10.920My political career was dead in the water.0.97
00:09:13.680I was a forgotten has-been, a disgrace has-been.
00:09:17.060But now I'm going to be relevant again because I'm clinging on to this whole anti-Trump sentiment that has taken over Canada.
00:09:24.860A court decision last week that struck down the Alberta separatist petition has been appealed by State Free Alberta.
00:09:32.060The group has also asked for that decision to be stayed until that appeal is complete.
00:09:36.580Hard applications are a binary process, right? It's yes or no, flip a point, right?
00:09:41.460So, but that being said, you know, we think that we have some very, very strong arguments as to why this decision is so wrong.
00:09:49.500It comes as Thomas Lukasik will have five minutes to speak to a legislative committee for the first time.
00:09:53.900It's a question Lukasik believes should have been voted on in the legislature, not a public referendum.
00:09:59.220And the opposition NDP feels Smith will put a question about separation on a ballot in October.
00:10:04.740In last week's Alberta Court of Kings bench decision, the justice found the province failed to meet its duty to consult First Nations before allowing a process that could affect treaty rights.
00:10:13.500Both the Alberta government and petition organizers argue no treaty rights.
00:10:17.040That is the kind of weather that Alberta Patriots collect their signature in.