CALGARY — Critics were quick to pounce on Premier Danielle Smith after she announced Albertans will be able to weigh in on the province’s future in Canada through an additional question added to the October 19 referendum.On Thursday night, Smith said the new referendum question will ask Albertans: “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”The premier framed the move as a way to gauge public opinion while legal appeals over the Stay Free Alberta question continues.However, the announcement sparked criticism from political figures across the country, including Liberal MP Corey Hogan (Calgary Confederation), who accused Smith of enabling the independence movement, particularly proponents within her own party..“The premier can wrap these actions in the words of democracy, but she is willfully ignoring the will of the vast majority of Albertans who want no part of this separatist conversation,” Hogan said in a statement.“Her internal political problems have become our national crisis.”Hogan went on to state that Smith had repeatedly lowered “the threshold for getting a separatist question on the ballot” and then “intervened to eliminate a review requiring the question to be constitutional.”“This baffling, referendum-on-a-referendum question will do nothing to settle anything. It adds another layer of confusion,” Hogan said.“It will divide. It will distract. It will damage. I hope her government will consider how to step back from this madness before the damage to our province’s social fabric and economy is too great.”.During an appearance on CTV’s Power Play, former BC Liberal premier Christy Clark also condemned Smith’s move, warning it could deepen political instability in Alberta and Canada at large, as well as undermine investor confidence in the economy.“I think when you light your house on fire, you shouldn’t be surprised if you have an increased risk of burning it down,” Clark said, adding Smith “created this problem” and now she is trying to “solve it.”While Clark acknowledged Alberta had legitimate grievances within Confederation stemming from former Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau’s policies, she said “tearing the country apart is not the way to go about it.”“If this should succeed, Danielle Smith will go down as probably the worst premier Canada has ever had,” Clark stated.“If it fails, she'll go down as someone who got lucky and got out of there with her skin intact and still isn't qualified to be the premier of a province.”National Post senior editor and columnist Terry Newman reacted to Clark’s remarks, writing on X that, “Her comments make me want to become an Albertan just so I can vote for separation. If they have that effect on me, I can only imagine how they’ll play out in Alberta.”.The Globe and Mail Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife called Smith’s move “total madness,” adding that the premier is creating more uncertainty over Alberta’s economic future.“What is she doing? She wants to hold a referendum so that foreign investors will say, ‘You know what? I think I'll wait before I put any money in here,’ because capital does not like disruption,” Fife said on CBC’s Power & Politics.“They do not like uncertainty, and now she's created uncertainty. I'm sure the prime minister privately must be pulling his hair out over this.”Fife went on to describe some independence supporters as “MAGA separatists.”“I have great faith in Albertans. They're patriotic people. They're not going to vote to separate from Canada,” Fife stated.He added that Smith should instead tell independence supporters to “form your own separatist party” and seek a mandate through a provincial election before pursuing a referendum.Political commentator Ryan Gerritsen criticized Fife’s comments, saying, “So Danielle is supposed to ignore the will of the people & democracy because of investments and the fact that Fife doesn’t like the separatists. Gotcha.”The Alberta referendum is set to take place on October 19.
