Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney has spoken out about the possibility of a sovereignty referendum in the province, suggesting that if such a vote was allowed it could destroy families, communities, and institutions and that he'd be willing to take on the public role to combat it.Speaking to the Canadian Press, Kenney — who served as premier from 2019 to 2022 — criticized the idea of independence, calling the movement “historically discredited” and driven by a small, vocal minority.“It’s bananas if we allow a tiny, perennially angry minority to drag the whole province through a deeply divisive debate,” Kenney said.“There will be marriages that break up over it, business partnerships that dissolve, and churches and community organizations that fracture.”However, the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP), one of the groups advocating for sovereignty, strongly rejects Kenney’s assessment.Dr. Dennis Modry, APP’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, said Albertans are recognizing that getting out from under federal regulation and taxation allows “individuals and families far more latitude in terms of protecting their values and their culture.”“Families will be far stronger in a sovereign Alberta out from under a centralist government that wants to control families, and so I profoundly disagree with [Kenney], and I'd be extremely pleased to debate with him,” he told the Western Standard.Kenney stated that Alberta independence movements have been active for half a century and have had little success, pointing to the Western Canada Concept party’s fleeting success in the 1982 Olds-Didsbury by-election as evidence of its limited appeal even at “the height of the National Energy Program.”.Alberta Prosperity Project files constitutional petition application on Western independence."Over 50 years they've failed to win. They couldn't get elected as dogcatcher in this province, because they don't actually have real support,” he said.This supposed lack of support is something Modry refutes, pointing to a 2021 referendum in which 62% of Albertans voted to end equalization payments, as well as two-thirds of UCP members favourably supporting Alberta independence, calling it a signal that sovereignty could gain majority support and that the topic has changed dramatically since the 1980s.“Mr. Kenney just is not recognizing it,” Modry said.“For one thing, polling is between 45 and 48% in favour of Alberta sovereignty. But polling doesn't tell the whole story... We still live in an era of cancel culture, and what we know from our town halls that we've done is a lot of people are afraid to say how they feel about the issue of Alberta sovereignty, publicly and privately.”Modry also added that unlike in the 1980s, the sovereignty movement today is drawing international attention, with multiple international news agencies covering the APP’s events.“We've had interviews from around the world. We've had the BBC, CNN, the Japanese media, the German media, etc., come to our town halls," he said.Kenney’s remarks come as Premier Danielle Smith and her government try to navigate making it procedurally easier for a referendum to be held while working to do more to get the province’s grievances heard by the federal government..UPDATED: Alberta Prosperity Project says its goal is still to become a 'sovereign nation'.Premier Danielle Smith addressed the issue at a press conference on Monday, noting that the current referendum initiative is being pursued under the existing rules, which require 290,000 signatures within 90 days to trigger a vote.“I have been very clear that I believe in Alberta sovereignty within a united Canada... If you ask people if you want to remain in Alberta, yes or no, there are implications if people answer no,” Smith said.“I am working with the federal government to address significant grievances that have Albertans feeling frustrated, and I’m hopeful we’ll have a joint announcement soon, which could take the temperature down on this issue.”Currently, a referendum on Alberta independence can be initiated under the Referendum Act or the Citizen Initiative Act, requiring signatures from roughly 600,000 eligible voters — around 20% of those who voted in the 2019 election — within 90 days.Under a new law, the threshold would be cut in half to 10%.
