CALGARY — With the upcoming Alberta referendum under three months away, Stockwell Day is warning conservatives that the independence movement could fracture the political right and hand a political advantage to the Alberta NDP.In an interview with the Western Standard, the former leader of the Canadian Alliance Party said that while he sympathizes with the grievances driving the independence movement, he fears that supporters could turn on mainstream conservatives if they fail to achieve a “Yes” vote on October 19.“I'm concerned because I know quite a few of the activists from within, and I agree with every single grievance and probably more,” he said.“[I had] to fight Ottawa for years, and I have seen the detrimental effects on Alberta of a central Canadian focus. It gets you really angry.”But the 75-year-old Day said that anger could eventually be redirected toward conservatives who do not support independence.“I think the chances are very high they will form their own party, and that is the best news that the NDP and Nenshi can get,” he said..EXCLUSIVE: Stockwell Day quashes leadership rumours, says Conservatives should stick with Poilievre.His comments come after a recent online survey of a representative national sample by Research Co. that found roughly one third of Alberta respondents said they would vote in favour of Alberta becoming its own country, while 50% would vote against the idea and 17% were undecided.Day argued it would not take a large independence party to affect the outcome of an Alberta election, and that a small percentage of conservative voters breaking away from the UCP could be enough to change the result in closely contested ridings in an upcoming provincial election.He pointed to similar divisions elsewhere in Canadian politics, including the impact of Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada (PPC) on the federal Conservative vote.“I fundraised for [Bernier] back in the day when he was a Conservative, and people said, ‘Don’t worry about him. It’s only 1%,’” Day said.“Yes, there are constituencies that are lost by 1%. It is a worry.”An Angus Reid Institute poll released in late July showed Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's approval rating had climbed seven points from June to 46%, following the announcement that a proposed crude oil pipeline to the West Coast would be submitted to the federal Major Projects Office..However, Smith has also faced criticism from some within Alberta's independence movement, with some figures accusing her of betraying UCP voters who also support Alberta sovereignty over the premier’s decision in May to put Thomas Lukaszuk’s pro-Canada question on the October ballot.At the time, Alberta Prosperity Project legal counsel Jeffrey Rath said that people within the UCP were “sick and tired of being lied to.”Now, Smith faces a juggling act of convincing Albertans who favour national unity that she still believes in a “more sovereign Alberta in a united Canada” while also persuading the pro-independence side that she is serious about their grievances with Ottawa.Day warns that conservatives risk undermining their own objectives if disagreements over independence cause voters to abandon otherwise ideologically aligned parties.“As Conservatives we need to quit being so high-minded that if one of our purest principles isn't a flagship of the other Conservatives, then we're gonna crash them,” he said.“Conservatives need to get their act together and realize it's not gonna be perfect, but it's gonna be better than if you get the socialists or the liberals.”
