00:10:00.000My fellow Albertans, tonight I wish to speak with you about the debate we are having in this province on the future of Alberta and Canada.
00:10:10.200Last week, an Alberta judge released a decision finding that the Citizen Initiative petition organized by the group Stay Free Alberta on the issue of Alberta separation is unconstitutional,
00:10:20.580because in the judge's view, there was not adequate consultation done with the First Nations Band about the potential effect of the petition on their treaty rights.
00:10:29.360This ruling fundamentally misinterprets the nature of the duty to consult,
00:10:33.560which was never meant to prevent citizens from making their voices heard through a democratic process.
00:10:40.660I support Alberta remaining in Canada.
00:10:43.820That is how I would vote on separation in a provincial referendum.
00:10:46.800It is also the position of my government and my caucus.
00:10:50.900However, despite my personal support for remaining in Canada,
00:10:53.960I am deeply troubled by an erroneous court decision that interferes with the democratic
00:10:59.000rights of hundreds of thousands of Albertans. Albertans who volunteered, prepared petitions,
00:11:05.840made their case to fellow citizens, and appear to have secured the required amount of signatures
00:11:10.640necessary under Alberta law to hold a provincial referendum. The fact is that between the Forever
00:11:17.100Canada petition requesting a referendum on Alberta remaining in Canada, and the Stay Free
00:11:22.600Alberta petition requesting a referendum on leaving Canada, approximately 700,000 Albertans
00:11:28.980have signed a petition requesting a vote on this issue. And I, as Premier, will not have a legal
00:11:34.420mistake by a single judge silenced the voices of hundreds of thousands of Albertans. That's not
00:11:40.260the Alberta way. Alberta's future will be decided by Albertans, not the Courts. Our government will
00:11:46.700therefore be appealing the decision to Alberta's Court of Appeal, and if necessary, the Supreme
00:11:51.740Court of Canada. But this process will take many months and possibly years before being addressed
00:11:57.600by those higher courts. In the meantime, under our legal system, this troubling court decision
00:12:03.100is binding law in Alberta until it is successfully appealed. This means that it is unlikely the
00:12:09.740courts will permit Elections Alberta to hold a binding provincial referendum on separation
00:12:14.300until this incorrect ruling is overturned or clarified. But there is another way to hear
00:12:20.200from Albertans while we wait for our legal appeal to be heard.
00:12:23.540That is why I'm announcing today that I will be requesting our government
00:12:26.740add an additional question to the October 19th referendum vote announced previously.
00:12:32.000The additional question will be, should Alberta remain a province of Canada?
00:12:37.340Or should the government of Alberta commence the legal process required
00:12:40.840under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum
00:12:45.340on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?
00:12:49.600Because this proposed referendum question does not directly trigger separation, but, if successful, would ask Alberta's government to commence the legal process necessary to hold a binding referendum on the matter,
00:13:00.900the recent court ruling would not be applicable, and the referendum question I outlined could proceed.
00:13:07.260This question will also ensure the 700,000 signatories to both the Forever Canada Petition and the Stay Free Alberta Petition are respected, and the will of Albertans is heard.
00:13:17.820Kicking the can down the road only prolongs a very emotional and important debate, and muzzling the voices of hundreds of thousands of Albertans wanting to be heard is unjustifiable in a free and democratic society.
00:13:30.300It's time to have a vote, understand the will of Albertans on this subject, and move on.
00:13:35.740Now, obviously, Alberta's first ever provincial vote on our province's future in Canada is of monumental importance.
00:13:42.200As such, I feel it is important to clearly state my personal position so Albertans know where I stand.
00:13:48.200I first want to assure Albertans that our government will respect the outcome and direction received on all of the referendum questions being voted on this October 19th.
00:13:56.200Our government has already launched the website albertareferendum2026.ca with a significant amount of background information on the immigration and constitutional questions previously announced
00:14:08.200announced, and I hope every Albertan will take the time to explore that website in detail.
00:14:13.320As to the specific issue of separation, I have repeatedly stated that the position of the UCP
00:14:18.760caucus and UCP government is to build a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.
00:14:24.920I have never deviated from that position, and I will not do so now. I will therefore be voting
00:14:29.960for Alberta to remain in Canada, while continuing to work each and every day to restore and strengthen
00:14:35.640provincial rights under the Canadian Constitution. The fact is, Canada was founded on this very
00:14:41.480principle. Canada is very different from the United States and many other Western democracies.
00:14:46.920For example, the United States centralizes the majority of power and decision-making in its
00:14:51.880federal government. In Canada, we chose a decentralized federation composed of very
00:14:57.640unique and diverse provinces left to govern themselves in almost all matters, with the
00:15:02.360main exceptions of national defense and international affairs. Over time, our federal government has
00:15:08.280sought to move towards a more centralized American-style system, with Ottawa attempting to take over many
00:15:14.360provincial areas of jurisdiction, using all manner of legislative, judicial, and financial leverage.
00:15:20.920I categorically reject Ottawa's attempts to do so, and call on all provincial leaders and MPs to undo
00:15:26.680the extensive damage that centralization of power in Ottawa has done to our country economically
00:15:32.680and with respect to national unity. I am fiercely loyal to both Alberta and Canada,
00:15:38.520but I truly believe our country is so much stronger and more prosperous
00:15:42.840when we respect the rights of provinces and empower them to govern themselves
00:15:47.080with minimal federal interference. Albertans? Not Ottawa. Quebecers? Not Ottawa.
00:15:53.240and all the other provinces must each be empowered to control our own direction and destiny.
00:15:58.920Whether it's energy policy, agricultural practices, policing, firearms ownership,
00:16:04.200or how to administer our social programs, the days of Ottawa dictating and interfering in
00:16:09.080provincial affairs must come to an end. The future economic success and unity of our country depends
00:16:14.920on it. When I was first elected Premier, I was very concerned that it would be almost impossible
00:16:21.160to restore provincial rights stolen from Alberta and other provinces by the Trudeau-Singh government
00:16:26.260in Ottawa. However, our government went to work anyway to see if we could. We have been relentless
00:16:32.200in making our voices heard, launching dozens of legal actions, appearing in hundreds of national
00:16:37.920interviews, bridge-building with other premiers, and aggressively passing legislation, such as the
00:16:43.360Alberta Sovereignty Within the United Canada Act, to take back our provincial autonomy from the
00:16:48.220federal government. We ran extensive advertising campaigns against the destructive net zero
00:16:53.380electricity regulations as well as the catastrophic oil and gas production cap in order to persuade
00:16:59.440our fellow Canadians that Trudeau's anti-Alberta agenda was also anti-Canadian and was destroying
00:17:05.380the unity, energy, and economic future of our nation. A great majority of Albertans joined us
00:17:10.640in that fight, calling friends, relatives, and participating in social media to spread that
00:17:14.980message throughout the country. We made a lot of noise as a province. We fought hard and refused
00:17:20.120to accept the status quo. And the result? Well, my friends, we have started to win.
00:17:25.660Over the course of the last two years, the tide of national public opinion on resource development,
00:17:30.560provincial rights, energy policy, and a host of other issues began to turn. Our Alberta oil sense
00:17:37.140went from a national target to a national treasure. Pipelines went from impossible to a national
00:17:43.240imperative justin trudeau's anti-alberta anti-energy policies became a national embarrassment one of
00:17:49.080several that ultimately cost him his prime ministership the leave it in the ground ndp led
00:17:54.360by jagmeet singh was electorally annihilated and the federal liberals led by their new leader
00:17:59.800prime minister mark carney adopted most of alberta's positions on energy and resource development
00:18:05.400in fact the current prime minister has worked very constructively with our government to craft
00:18:09.400in Alberta-Ottawa Energy Agreement, or MOU, as it is often called. This has already attracted tens
00:18:15.720of billions of dollars in investment for new pipelines, natural gas-run data centers,
00:18:20.680electricity generation, and so much more. Under that energy agreement with Ottawa,
00:18:26.040the destructive federal electricity regulations are gone. The economically disastrous oil and gas
00:18:32.120production cap has been scrapped. New pipelines carrying nearly a million barrels of Alberta
00:18:37.800oil to the United States are proceeding with speed toward construction. And a new million
00:18:43.480barrel a day pipeline to the BC west coast is well in progress and on track to have its permitting
00:18:49.000completed by September of next year. Could and should these reforms and projects move faster?
00:18:54.360Yes, of course they should. The federal government can and needs to act with even more urgency than
00:18:59.000it has. Do we in Alberta still have our differences with the federal liberal government?
00:19:03.080Obviously. And make no mistake, we will relentlessly challenge them to respect our provincial rights and jurisdiction every time they step over the line.
00:19:12.900But my fellow Albertans, there can be no doubt that things are a world of difference better for our province than they were under the Trudeau NDP government.
00:19:21.500Both major federal parties, the federal Conservatives and now the federal Liberals,
00:19:26.300representing 85% of voters in Canada, are advocating for Alberta to increase our energy production and
00:21:36.580fighting and making the ultimate sacrifice in the Second World War
00:21:39.720long before we were joined in that effort by our American allies.
00:21:43.840Together with our allies, we were also instrumental in beating back the forces of communism and terrorism.
00:21:49.880The world would be a much darker place if not for Canada.
00:21:53.420We have built marvels of technology together.
00:21:56.020We are known the world over as a country of innovators, explorers, and entrepreneurs,
00:22:00.300but also of peacemakers, philanthropists, and contributors to the good of the world.
00:22:05.820Our federal politicians may stray from our foundational values from time to time, but our fellow Canadians, they are our family, our friends, our blood.
00:22:16.320We all know our family needs to do some work to get rid of a few bad habits developed over the past decade, but that's what we are in the process of fixing.
00:22:24.380Now is the time to double down and fight even harder for the prosperity and change we want to see in our country.
00:22:30.640Because Albertans are at our best when we are hard at work getting things done for each other and our families.
00:22:35.820solving problems, serving our communities, creating and innovating, building a stronger Alberta and a stronger Canada.
00:22:42.820And now is our chance to do so, finally with a Chinook wind at our backs instead of a winter blizzard in our face.
00:22:49.820Finally, I wish to speak with those of you who already agree with me that Alberta should remain in Canada.
00:22:55.820Let us guard against the trap of using division and demonization tactics against our fellow Albertans with whom we disagree on this matter.
00:23:02.820this matter. The vast majority of those advocating for separation love our province profoundly.
00:23:08.980Many are also proud Canadians, but have simply lost hope that their families can flourish within
00:23:13.480Canada. So instead of attacking these loyal Albertans, let's work together to restore hope
00:23:19.520in their country again. Let's work together to hold Ottawa accountable for implementing the
00:23:24.300Alberta-Ottawa energy deal and get that pipeline built to the West Coast. Let's work together to
00:23:30.020Ottawa to stand down on their unfair persecution of law-abiding gun owners. Let's work together to
00:23:35.380build an immigration system that helps support our economy while putting Alberta workers and
00:23:39.940taxpayers first. Let's demonstrate why Alberta can be stronger and more prosperous as a member of a
00:23:45.940renewed and unified Canada. One that is moving past the last 10 years to empower provinces to
00:23:51.700develop and export our resources and to govern our own provincial affairs free from federal
00:23:56.740interference let's use the power of hope and persuasion and reject the language of division
00:24:02.340and demonization we are after all each other's neighbors friends and family we must never let
00:24:08.660the voices of hatred and vilification divide us as a people because at the end of this debate
00:24:14.020and when the referendum is over we must come together to ensure that our beloved province
00:24:18.260continues to prosper and that is my hope that our beloved alberta and canada will remain forever
00:24:24.820strong and free. Thank you and good night.