EDMONTON – The Alberta NDP traded orange for red on Thursday when the group launched their campaign to get Albertans involved in the fight against Alberta independence, as momentum builds towards the topic potentially being placed on the October referendum. "We are not sleepwalking into this referendum," said NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi in a press conference introducing the For Alberta, For Canada campaign. "We are standing up for Canada with our full voices, with our full throats, for the greatest country ever built." Nenshi has often referred to the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum, in which the vote to stay in Canada won by 0.58%, as a warning to Albertans not to discredit the independence movement, since polls show that only roughly 29% of Albertans support it."In 1995, Canadians woke up about two weeks before that referendum and said, 'Oh, man, we're going to lose our country. We got to do something.' and we came within a sliver of losing our country," Nenshi said."We're not repeating that mistake. We're not repeating the mistake of the people who thought Brexit would never pass. We're getting out there now. We're mobilizing people. We're showing them how, and where, and when to vote, and we're helping them talk to their neighbours." .Nenshi and his fellow NDP MLAs have fought against the prospect of a vote on Alberta independence for months, calling on Premier Danielle Smith to "stop pandering to the separatists" in the UCP and to shut down their referendum petition. Though Smith claims to be in favour of Alberta remaining in Canada, she has consistently refused to close the petition because she believes Albertans have the democratic right to vote on issues they consider important. In order for a citizen initiative petition to pass and trigger a referendum vote, organizers have to collect signatures from at least 10% of eligible voters — roughly 177,000 people, based on turnout in the last provincial election.Stay Free Alberta's Mitch Sylvester has told the Western Standard that his group has "well more than 177,000" signatures on its petition, making a referendum on Alberta independence nearly inevitable. With an independence question being placed on the October referendum feeling like a near certainty, the Alberta NDP seems to have shifted their attention away from stopping the referendum, instead focusing on making sure the votes land in favour of Alberta remaining in Canada. .Thursday's announcement included a three-step call to action, including a call for Albertans to join the Alberta NDP on April 25 for a "provincial day of action." "We will be getting out into communities across the province, knocking on doors, and kicking off a person-to-person campaign to stand up against separatism and to stand up for Canada and Alberta," said NDP Deputy Leader Rahki Pancholi. Their plan also involves calling on Albertans to have conversations with their neighbours and spread awareness about the campaign. "It will be those actions from everyday Albertans that will grow this movement and ensure we can mobilize ahead of a separate separatism referendum this fall," Pancholi said. .For Alberta, For Canada will run concurrently but independently of Thomas Lukaszuk's Forever Canadian campaign. Alberta independence supporters have formed many groups of their own as they prepare for the potential vote, including the Centurion Project.The Centurion Project, which is independent of Stay Free Alberta, aims to "recruit, equip and mobilize a team of community leaders across the province of Alberta to take on the task of winning Alberta's sovereignty." Stay Free Alberta is doing its work by continuing to collect as many signatures as possible, aiming to send a message when they submit them on May 2.
