Danielle, you did this to yourself. Political commentator Andrew Coyne said it best and I am paraphrasing here ‘ when you ride the tiger sometimes you end up inside the tiger’.
Danielle made her address to the province last night, an address which she pre-recorded the night before. In trying to address the growing referendum boondoggle, she stated that it was not time to kick the can down the road and then she did exactly that.
When the Forever Canadian petition movement started, the intention was for the legislature to decide on the question. The separatists then got involved with their own petition, pushing for a referendum and tied Danielle in knots, given the legality of the separatist question and the legality of even having a referendum.
So Danielle tied herself in knots, and Alberta is going to have a referendum in October to decide whether there should be a referendum on separation. That’s right folks. A referendum on having a referendum.
Here’s the question that’s going to be voted on
“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?”
You did not read that wrong. Albertans will be voting on this referendum to decide on whether a second referendum will be held.
If Danielle was hoping to appease critics, she got no help there.
Jeff Rath, lawyer for the Stay Free Alberta separatist group, stated
“She’s just alienated the most hardcore portion of her base…. The 301,620 people that signed the petition are smart enough to see through it, and she has just created an unstoppable political force in the province of Alberta that will be rallying against her.”
Yep, they want to kick her out of office. Cam Davies, leader of the Republican Party of Alberta, a separatist party, added
“A vote to have a vote is the literal definition of kicking the can down the road.”
Meanwhile, Naheed Menshi, leader of the NDP party, the official opposition party in Alberta, vowed,
“This spring and summer, we’re going to be knocking on doors, we’re going to be talking to our neighbours, we’re going to be mobilizing, we’re going to make sure that Danielle Smith and the separatists get the defeat they so richly deserve.”
Thomas Lukaszuk, backbone behind the Forever Canadian group, said it best,
“Danielle Smith decided that six months of a divisive campaign and economic damage to Alberta isn’t long enough. She wants to hold a referendum on holding a referendum to break up Canada.”
He is exactly right. Prior to Smith’s address last night social media has already been heating up on both sides of the question. Now, Albertans will be going through a long hot summer of divisiveness and discord, before the vote is held in October. Thanks a lot, Danielle.
That’s all I have for today.