00:00:00.000Hey everyone, Will Vassar from the Western Standard here with you today.
00:00:04.200Just finishing an interview with Tanya Clemens from Let Alberta Decide.
00:00:07.960She's the co-leader of that TPA and they've really taken one of the leads in pushing the
00:00:11.960independence movement forward. She was kind enough to chat with me on referendum day,
00:00:16.400talk a little bit about everything that's taken place with the Alberta independence movement to
00:00:20.420get where it's at today, where Albertans are voting on a question at least somewhat related
00:00:24.680to Alberta independence, even if it's not a direct yes or no on the matter.
00:00:30.000She was kind of taking some time to talk about that, and she expressed her optimism for the vote tonight and how it's going to play out, but also for the future and what the independence movement has been able to accomplish thus far.
00:00:41.880So kind enough for her to take some time and chat with me. I hope you guys enjoy the video. But before you watch it, here's your chance now. Sign up for the Western Standard. Subscribe to us on social media and make a subscription to our website.
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00:01:17.600check that out and enjoy my interview with Tanya
00:01:25.040well tanya thank you very much for joining me today i know it's a crazy day with it
00:01:28.320being referendum day but i appreciate you taking the time to chat with me
00:01:32.720yeah well no problem at all thanks for having me yeah um so why don't we start with just an overall
00:01:38.720outlook today it's been a long many months it's only they called the referendum question in may
00:01:45.840but it's been almost a year from even the time that it was called that this really the campaign
00:01:50.880for alberta independence has been going and so kind of what's your outlook and your optimism kind
00:01:55.600of today as everything gets going i'm feeling pretty good about today it has been a very long
00:02:01.920campaign election campaigns are traditionally under a month so it's been a long haul and people
00:02:06.960are are tired but they're not willing to give up the fight and they believe in alberta so much and
00:02:12.320that's opportunity that's before us so i'm really i'm feeling feeling confident that albertans will
00:02:18.400seize this opportunity and i'm looking forward to the the referendum results coming in today
00:02:23.920i actually just came back just walked in the door from casting my own ballots and i was kind of
00:02:30.560overcome with emotion a little bit surprised at how emotional i was that that one little x on a
00:02:35.520ballot can change the course of history for a province so i hope people are really taking a
00:02:41.200moment in that ballot box and weighing with that thoughts of what they're what they're doing and
00:02:46.000and what they're voting and what they're they're trying to leave for their children and future
00:02:50.560generations at Albertans it's a big day um listening to you talk on Saturday a little bit
00:02:56.620and there was a there's a lot of people on Saturday that led Alberta to side rally kind of
00:03:00.820expressing similar sentiments I know when the referendum was first called there was a lot of
00:03:05.280people that were frustrated that this isn't a direct yes or no are we staying or leaving Canada
00:03:09.980kind of question um but there's been a little bit of an optimism kind of change you mentioned how
00:03:15.280you're a little emotional when you were voting there today kind of what are you
00:03:19.940as you head into this question what's your mindset kind of of what Albertans are voting on today
00:03:27.280and just yeah well opportunity in front of them I guess yeah we were a bit frustrated because we had
00:03:34.440done this petition campaign which was citizen-led and citizen-driven and we had a question
00:03:38.820that we thought was going to be on the ballot but sometimes you know things work in mysterious ways
00:03:44.160maybe it was a bit of a mixed blessing. I don't know if right now if we would win an absolute
00:03:48.640independence referendum at this point in our history but the way that they phrase the questions
00:03:53.600independence isn't on the ballot. So what option two does for us is empowers our government with
00:03:58.800negotiation strength because they've never ever had leverage before and that leverage comes from
00:04:03.760having a credible alternative that we've never had before. Alberta could pursue independence after
00:04:10.480this vote so i think that's pretty empowering that this is what we actually have on the ballot
00:04:16.320this that negotiating strength and it does put ottawa on notice regardless of what carnie says
00:04:21.280that don't think of this as send a message to us basically we're not going to listen to you
00:04:25.760anyways that should make people more apt to vote option two and really empower our government and
00:04:30.720take the next steps and push hard on ottawa uh what's been your kind of finding as you've kind
00:04:36.960of shifted your campaign messaging over the last months from uh we're campaigning on independence
00:04:41.600to now we're campaigning on prolong like prolong the movement let's put pressure on ottawa let's
00:04:46.800get a chance to vote on independence do you feel like there's been you guys have found a little
00:04:50.640more traction or you found that more albertans are on board with that idea a little bit
00:04:58.080yeah i think so i think that lots of albertans have really come around and we've been working
00:05:01.840really hard with our let alberta decide campaign to actually reach that undecided portion of the
00:05:06.160the population and show them that this is a way to empower your voice and empower Albertans to
00:05:12.380affect change. Because regardless of which side of this referendum you were on or how you feel
00:05:18.320about independence, largely Albertans share the same grievances about the way Ottawa has treated
00:05:23.580us. So that's kind of a unifying principle that underlies everything. And it's just a matter of
00:05:28.680explaining to people that this is what, this is the next step that helps us change that.
00:05:34.020um like i kind of said we're still we're not we don't know the numbers from the referendum yet
00:05:40.120and so we can't talk necessarily about what's next um after this but i'm curious what does
00:05:45.600success tonight look for you like to you what would you decide this is a this is a good number
00:05:53.260are you guys saying we want the 50 we want to win this or it comes back at 40 or 30 like is that
00:05:59.720still a success to you guys well i obviously want 50 plus one so that we have the majority vote on
00:06:06.440this and hoping that we'll even be higher than that so we have a really strong majority so that
00:06:10.920we can send that message to ottawa and bring them to the table force them to the table to have an
00:06:16.440adult conversation with us but i think regardless of what the number is that we've had great success
00:06:21.480in this like the world is talking about alberta independence the world is talking about how ottawa
00:06:27.160has been treating albertans and albertans are feeling confident enough to be able to have these
00:06:32.520tough discussions now in their communities and their families which is a huge win right there
00:06:36.520so we've got lots of momentum and we go forwards regardless of what path forwards looks like
00:06:43.320uh we when i was talking with some people around the event on saturday they talked about how in
00:06:49.720quebec um there there's been two referendums right there was the first referendum which
00:06:54.680the support wasn't as high and then the second referendum that's where they got they inched up
00:06:59.640near the 50 percent and it they've kind of compared it a little bit to the fact that
00:07:05.480this first one's a chance to build up that momentum and obviously again we don't know
00:07:10.120the results but is that one of the implications of this first it's almost stages i guess in the
00:07:15.320movement right or renditions of this this stage and this rendition right now is could that if it
00:07:22.200it does not get the 50%. It's still a victory in that sense of you've built that momentum and
00:07:27.000you've moved it forward. Yeah, well, we've definitely moved the needle a ton from what
00:07:32.140it was before. And I think with the Quebec referendums, they were operating from a place
00:07:36.760that didn't have a legal pathway for a province to secede from the nation. But because of their
00:07:42.840two referendum attempts, the Supreme Court made their ruling. So now Alberta does have a legal
00:07:49.120pathway we don't need to necessarily form an independence or a separatist party to achieve
00:07:54.320that and i've been very very proud this is actually has been a very grassroots driven
00:07:59.440grassroots movement and we've been operating outside of the political sphere like the
00:08:04.960political sphere that has been largely punishing us in that bureaucratic wasteland that's the
00:08:10.160self-feeding government that we're wanting to change we're operating outside of that and i'm
00:08:15.280pretty proud that the grassroots people have done this there's a massive can of worms i'd love to
00:08:20.080dive into you with that last question on but i feel like we could do we could we could do that
00:08:24.960at a different time it would be we could spend minutes and forever talking about kind of that
00:08:29.920aspect of it and kind of with everything going on right now in the ucp and with alberta but i guess
00:08:35.440my final question here is um your pitch to albertans who have not voted yet this we're
00:08:42.480We're going to get this out here this morning as quickly as we can.
00:08:45.520But what is your message to that undecided Albertan who, before they head to the polls, that you're trying to sell them and make a last second pitch?
00:08:55.200Well, I guess I would say that independence or separation is not on the ballot for this referendum.
00:09:00.980So regardless of where you feel about a future independence of Alberta, what is on the ballot is the empowerment of Albertans.
00:09:08.980we could empower our provincial government to negotiate with Ottawa and negotiate on these
00:09:13.900pipelines, on constitutional change, on everything that's on the other referendum questions from a
00:09:18.940position of strength. That's what a credible alternative gives us is leverage against Ottawa
00:09:24.340and all the grievances that we've had in the past, they could actually be brought to the table and we
00:09:28.660could seek a resolution with them. This puts Ottawa on notice. They need to come to us then
00:09:33.380with what their offer is and then Albertans get to choose the next step again. So let's empower
00:09:38.680our provincial government with that negotiating strength well tanya thank you very much for
00:09:43.720taking the time to meet with me today i i appreciate it again it's a busy day for you
00:09:47.880guys at let alberta decide i know that and appreciate you taking the time best of luck
00:09:52.520throughout the day today and hopefully we'll chat again tomorrow after the fact yeah that sounds
00:09:57.240great nice to talk with you again we'll thanks you too all right that's going to do it for this
00:10:01.320quick video here thank you again to tanya clemens from let alberta decide for taking the time to
00:10:06.760chat with me today about the Alberta independence movement and what they've been able to accomplish
00:10:11.640thus far as we sit now a couple hours away from polls closing in the Alberta referendum
00:10:17.160and we find out if this stage of the Alberta independence movement is going to keep moving
00:10:21.400forward and if we're going to have the government progress towards a future binding referendum
00:10:26.200or if Albertans are going to kind of stop at least this rendition of the independence movement
00:10:30.280because they've been very forward about the movement's not going to stop they're going to
00:10:33.960to keep fighting for independence, but at least for this current stage of it, if that's going to
00:10:39.600kind of wind to a close. So we'll find out here. Make sure you check out the Western Standard
00:10:43.460online. We're going to have coverage for you all throughout about what's taking place up to the
00:10:48.120minute and breaking down not only the independence question, but all the other referendum questions
00:10:52.820and what it's going to mean for Albertans, for Alberta. Go check us out there. And if you're not
00:10:58.300already subscribed to the Western Standard online, please do so because that's where you're going to
00:11:02.640see all our amazing articles and coverage about what's taking place. And check us out on social
00:11:06.920media and on YouTube. That's where we're going to have live wall-to-wall coverage of the referendum
00:11:12.240starting on the day after, starting on Tuesday, October 20th at 6 a.m. We're going to go live
00:11:18.000and we're going to start breaking down not only the independence question, but all the other
00:11:21.600referendum questions that are going to impact Albertans and what the future of Alberta is
00:11:26.700going to look like. So take your time, subscribe, and come back for more coverage.