EDMONTON, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — After months of speculation driven by citizen-led petitions, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced that she will add a question to a fall referendum asking Albertans if they want to hold a future vote on whether or not the province should leave Canada.
In a province-wide televised address on May 21, Smith said that despite her “personal support for remaining in Canada” she will let Albertans decide if there should be a vote on Alberta leaving Canada.
The question to be put to Albertans reads, “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”
Smith, who advocates for an autonomous Alberta within a united Canada, said she will vote for Alberta to remain in Canada.
Her announcement of adding the question comes days after a judge blocked the approval of a group’s petition to have Alberta separate from Canada and become its own nation. The group now says it will appeal the decision. Smith had blasted the ruling as “incorrect in law and anti-democratic.”
“I am deeply troubled by an erroneous court decision that interferes with the democratic rights of hundreds of thousands of Albertans,” Smith said in her address, referring to both the separatists’ petition and another one calling for Alberta to stay in Canada. Both petitions combined saw over 700,000 Albertans sign.
Smith said the recent court ruling by Trudeau-appointed Justice Shaina Leonard “means that it is unlikely the courts will permit Elections Alberta to hold a binding provincial referendum on separation until this incorrect ruling is overturned or clarified.”
“But there is another way to hear from Albertans while we wait for our legal appeal to be heard. That is why I am announcing today that I will be requesting our government add an additional question to the Oct. 19 referendum vote announced previously,” she said.
Along with the separation question, there will be nine other questions related to immigration, Canada’s Senate, and other pressing issues.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, Stay Free Alberta said a few weeks ago that it had garnered enough signatures to trigger a referendum on the issue, as allowed by provincial law.
This is the petition the judge quashed. Justice Leonard ruled that McClure did not take into account an earlier ruling that leaving Alberta would violate the rights of the local indigenous population and that the province did not consult with local First Nations.
The province was not behind the petition at all, and Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) legal counsel Jeffrey Rath posted on May 16 that the group is challenging Leonard’s ruling.
Smith’s announcement gets mixed reactions
Smith’s video address was met with negative reaction from her political opponents, including the federal Conservative Party and Alberta separatists.
Naheed Nenshi, official opposition leader of the NDP, said in a video response, “I know a lot of us are nervous, anxious, scared even. How are we going to let these extremist folks who run the premier and think they run the province take away our country?”
Rath said that Smith’s announcement was just a “referendum on having a referendum.”
Recent polls show that there is about 29 percent support for a free and independent Alberta. However, the true number could be higher, as the majority of UCP members support independence.
Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 10-year reign in Canada only increased calls from many Albertans to separate from Canada.
The calls for Alberta’s independence have grown since Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney defeated Conservative rival Pierre Poilievre in the 2025 federal election. In Alberta, almost all of the seats except two went to conservatives.