EDMONTON — Premier Danielle Smith asserted her stance on Monday in favour of Alberta remaining in Canada, despite noise from within the UCP claiming that most members want an independent Alberta. "It's very clear we're not shying away from it; our government, our caucus, and our party support a sovereign Alberta within united Canada," said Danielle Smith when speaking to reporters on Monday. Her statement comes after the Highwood UCP Constituency Association passed a motion on Thursday calling for Smith to face a party leadership review. Though the exact motive behind the motion is unknown, many believe her support for Alberta independence played a role. .The premier was not asked directly about Highwood's decision, but when asked about the UCP members who want to remove her as leader, Danielle Smith said one of the UCP's founding principles centred on a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.Further, she reminded reporters that she passed her 2024 leadership review with 91%."Obviously, every leader would wish it would be 100%, but the fact of the matter is, you always do have alternative voices in every political party," Danielle Smith said. "You've got to listen to them. You've got to respect them.""But in the end, we make decisions based on the things that we can agree on. We don't spend all of our time talking about the things that we disagree on. So that's the approach that I'll take after October 20, but I think we need to see the results on October 19 first.".One example that has frustrated Alberta independence supporters within the UCP is the Alberta government's use of over $4 million in taxpayer funds to advocate for its position on the referendum questions. UCP President Rob Smith addressed these concerns in a Facebook post on Sunday, where he discussed a conversation he had with the premier. "She assured me… emphasized, I’d even say, that the included language and 'promotion' regarding this question would be as NEUTRAL as possible and not nearly as persuasive as for Questions #1-#9, even though we all know her stated belief in and support for 'a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada,'" wrote Rob Smith in a Facebook post. .The Alberta NDP released a statement on Monday, saying Rob Smith's post shows that Danielle Smith is not truly advocating for Canada, as she claims. Danielle Smith spoke about this on Monday and said her government's work with Ottawa and its advocacy for the first nine questions, which she believes would improve Alberta's sovereignty, are ways she is fighting for Alberta to remain in Canada. Despite her support, the premier said she sympathizes with Alberta independence supporters frustrated with Ottawa, but claims Alberta's relationship with the rest of Canada is trending in a positive direction. "I recognize that not everybody can be persuaded immediately, but my job is going to be to do my work to try to keep on persuading them," Danielle Smith said.
