Carney uses Thanksgiving message to urge Albertans to stay in Canada

Prime Minister Mark Carney used his Thanksgiving message on Monday to make a direct appeal to Albertans, a week before the province votes on whether to start down the road to leaving Canada.

The video was filmed at his former high school in Edmonton, where Carney grew up. “This year, Thanksgiving is a bit different,” he said. “A week from today, Albertans will have the opportunity to make an important decision about their future.”

“Canada is facing real threats to our economy, to our security, to our way of life,” he said. “You can’t build big things on fault lines.” He ended with a line aimed squarely at the province: “Generations of Albertans helped build this country. It’s yours, it’s ours, and it’s worth fighting for.”

What Albertans will vote on

On 19 October Albertans will answer 10 referendum questions. The one drawing attention asks whether Alberta should remain a province of Canada or whether its government should begin the legal process towards a binding provincial referendum on separation. The vote itself is not binding, but a win for the second option would set that process in motion.

Polling suggests most Albertans would rather stay. The worry for unity campaigners is turnout. Former premier Jason Kenney has warned that a low turnout could favour the separatists, and attention is on “soft separatists” who may not want independence but want to send Ottawa a message.

Both campaigns make their case

Carney pointed to federal projects in the province, including thousands of new homes and “a new pipeline to the West Coast that will create lasting opportunity and prosperity for hundreds of thousands of people”. He has scrapped the consumer carbon tax and moved on environmental rules that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has long blamed for driving away investment.

Thomas Lukaszuk, a former deputy premier who heads the Forever Canadian campaign, said “some great achievements are being right now garnered by Alberta collaboratively”, and the last thing Albertans should do is jeopardise that relationship.

Tanya Clemens, co-chair of Let Alberta Decide, said a majority for separation would put Ottawa “on notice that Albertans have an actual credible, viable alternative”. “We will have an option on the table, and that should compel them to come with a very serious offer,” she said.

Wider pressure on the federation

The vote comes days after the Parti Québécois won the most seats in Quebec’s provincial election, falling short of a majority.

Carney is due back in Alberta this week. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will speak on Canadian unity at a conference on 16 October, and British Columbia NDP leader David Eby, whose province is in its own election campaign, has also urged Albertans to vote to stay, saying the two provinces are “stronger together”.