EDMONTON — A Canadian group is looking to promote discussions from differing perspectives ahead of Alberta’s referendum, as they bring their annual conference to Calgary in October. "I think the vision is that, regardless of the results on October 19, we are going through a discussion in our province about where we want things to go, and this conference is going to be a platform for people with different visions to come together and talk about what that looks like," said Natalie St. Hilaire in an interview with the Western Standard. .The “Reclaiming Alberta” conference, organized by "We Unify" and hosted by St. Hilaire, will take place in Calgary on Oct. 3 and 4 and feature over 35 speakers covering a variety of topics against the backdrop of Alberta's referendum. "Most people who are going to the conference agree that there's some need for change," St. Hilaire said. "So, this is about exploring the, sort of, well-worn pathways of separatism and arguments for that, but maybe also like what did Quebec do?" It will feature four debates, largely about Alberta independence, including Turning Point USA contributor Will Witt and the NDP Rose Caucus’ Quinn Wallace debating, "Is there a better way forward?" Other debaters, speakers and panellists include Alberta independence advocates Keith Wilson and Tanya Clemens, Alberta Enterprise Group president and the inaugural UCP president Erika Barootes, Questerre Energy president Michael Binnion, and the Western Standard's Derek Fildebrandt. .The conference will be split into sessions. Saturday will focus on reclaiming truth and culture, and reclaiming sovereignty. Sunday morning will focus on reclaiming resilience and faith, and the conference will end with a session on reclaiming the future. "After all these discussions we've had all weekend, what do various people who have a vision for what some of the solutions could be look like?" St. Hilaire said. "Then we've just had the debate sort of interspersed throughout, because the main topic to debate right now is Alberta sovereignty. So, that'll just be consistent throughout the weekend.".Individuals can purchase tickets for the event at the Carriage House Hotel and Conference Centre on the We Unify website. Weekend packages began at $200 prior to Sept. 23, at which point they will increase to $300 before the conference and $400 at the event. Single-day tickets are also available. Other ticket packages include VIP and Visionary. Exhibitor passes are also available. Individuals who cannot attend in person can purchase the live stream for $50.
