EDMONTON — Forever Canadian leader Thomas Lukaszuk said the Alberta independence debate will hang over Alberta for at least two years if voters choose to pursue a binding referendum, claiming that Premier Danielle Smith's legislation prevents her from holding a binding referendum in 2027. "Businesses are already suffering because of this uncertainty," said Lukaszuk on Monday's episode of The OShow with Laura Babcock. "But you know, Albertans now look at each other with suspicion on the street.""If you have an Alberta flag flying anywhere, people look at it, 'Oh, that must be a separatist.' Families are arguing with each other. Imagine doing this for two more years." .The October 19 referendum will ask Albertans, "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?" Lukszuk said Smith passed legislation dictating that a binding referendum can not be held in the same year as a scheduled general election, which is set for October 2027. "So, imagine we would have a two-year-long campaign on whether we want to stay or leave Canada," Lukaszuks said. Alberta independence advocate and constitutional lawyer, Keith Wilson, told the Western Standard that Lukaszuk is wrong. The UCP passed legislation in April that amended the Citizen Initiative Act by adding a one-year blackout on citizen initiative petitions on either side of a general election date, but Wilson said no regulations in the Referendum Act prevent the government from holding a referendum."The cabinet can set a referendum vote for any day it choses including an election year,” wrote Wilson. .Claims that an Alberta independence referendum will be delayed until 2028 have been made by both sides of the movement following Smith's announcement of the question on May 21. "If they delay it past January 1, then they're going to go into the election cycle, and then they're going to come back to us and say, 'You know what? Yeah, we'll hold this if you vote for us,'" said Stay Free Alberta and Alberta Prosperity Project CEO Mitch Sylvestre in an interview with the Western Standard. "And, you know what, we're going to be back to where we started before we went out and got 301,000 signatures to hold a referendum on independence."Smith said she introduced the question because, although courts would likely block her from asking a "yes" or "no" independence question in October, it is time for Albertans to voice their opinions on the matter and move forward."Kicking 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," Smith said. "It’s time to have a vote, understand the will of Albertans on this subject, and move on."
