CALGARY — Alberta NDP Leader and Leader of the Official Opposition Naheed Nenshi launched the party's “Rally the Vote for Canada” campaign Saturday, holding the first rally in Calgary ahead of Alberta's October 19 referendum.Nenshi used his remarks to criticize Premier Danielle Smith and the United Conservative Party, accusing the government of dividing Albertans and focusing on issues he said ''distract from affordability, health care and employment.''''Danielle Smith has made a terrible mistake,'' he stated, ''And we will do everything we can to save Canada.''Nenshi also criticized the cost of holding the referendum, describing it as a roughly $200-million expenditure and arguing that the process has contributed to political and emotional division in the province.The caucus announced the campaign on Monday, describing it as an effort to ''unite Albertans who want the province to remain part of Canada.''.''I'm really worried that because the polls are so clear that the separatists are not a majority that pro-Canada people won't vote. Elections Alberta is completely overwhelmed by this election.'' Nenshi said in a statement to media. ''There's going to be massive lineups on election day, and I don't want to end up with a result with really low voter turnout where we don't get a result that reflects what Albertans really believe.'' The campaign comes ahead of Alberta's October 19 referendum, which will feature 10 questions on separate ballots. Nenshi also characterized five of the other questions as anti-immigrant and four as unconstitutional and argued that they were ''designed to shift attention toward immigrants and set the stage for future separatist votes.''Nenshi has made opposition to Alberta separation a central part of his political messaging as the referendum approaches. In announcing the new campaign, he accused Premier Danielle Smith of allowing separatist pressure within Alberta's political environment to influence the referendum..The NDP's Calgary event is the first of a series of rallies planned across Alberta. The party's event materials encourage participants to promote Alberta remaining part of Canada and to reject the other referendum questions that the NDP describes as part of the separatist campaign.The next “Rally the Vote for Canada” events are scheduled to take place in communities across Alberta throughout September and into October, with rallies planned in Calgary, Cochrane, Sherwood Park, Edmonton, Airdrie, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Okotoks and Red Deer ahead of the October 19 vote.
