EDMONTON — Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi denies Premier Danielle Smith's claim that Alberta's referendum is meant to address Albertans' grievances with Ottawa, saying the UCP government is the problem."Well, the first thing I do is ask, what are the frustrations?" said Nenshi on Thursday when the Western Standard asked what he would do to resolve Albertans' grievances with Ottawa. "And the frustrations are we haven't been able to get a pipeline built. Well, that's the Conservatives' fault.""The frustrations are we have broken the public healthcare system. Well, that's the UCP's fault.".The Alberta NDP has said it is blanketly opposed to all nine of Smith's referendum questions, including those on abolishing the Senate, judicial selection, provincial jurisdiction, and the five questions regarding Alberta seeking more control over immigration.Smith claims these questions are meant to protect Alberta's social services, provide certainty over immigration, and resolve other issues some Albertans have raised. She is using them, in part, as a method to secure a "sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.""This is not an ideological issue; this is not a partisan issue," said Smith on Thursday about the immigration questions. "This is a question of how fast can you build schools? How fast can you build hospitals? How fast can you hire nurses and doctors? How fast can you hire teachers and education systems?"Smith is not alone in saying that Canada needs to decrease immigration levels. Prime Minister Mark Carney shares that concern, specifically regarding the number of temporary workers and international students coming to Canada. The premier also said other provinces agree that they need more provincial control.The UCP government conducted surveys as part of its Alberta Next panel in 2025, and the constitutional questions were some of the key issues identified by Albertans..Nenshi believes Smith is blaming immigrants for shortfalls in the UCP government's healthcare and education systems. He said the other questions are pointless because, even if Albertans vote in favour, the federal government and other provinces will not offer the support needed to amend the Constitution."This is all a distraction," Nenshi said. "That's why I call it an evil plot because the premier, her plan is always very clear. They look like they're playing. They pretend they're playing 4D chess. They're barely playing toddlers' checkers."The Alberta NDP leader said Alberta needs a new oil pipeline, better energy corridors, a federal government that takes economic development and healthcare seriously, and a new equalization payment structure, but those are not the issues Smith is trying to address in the referendum..Nenshi said the City of Calgary received more federal spending than any other city during his time as mayor because he wanted to work with Liberal and Conservative governments, but Smith just wants to fight."She knows the courts are going to turn her back when she tries to deny public education to refugee children, but she wants that because she wants the fight," Nenshi said. "And Albertans deserve so much better than the fight."He said it is part of Smith's "slow-motion separation" plan."She wants to be able to say three or four years from now, if God forbid she's still in power," Nenshi said. "'Look, Albertans voted for this, and the other provinces didn't give it to us. Those liberal-appointed judges are against us. We need to talk about separation again.'"
