CALGARY — The leader of Alberta’s NDP is predicting the four constitutional reform proposals on the referendum ballot will “never pass,” saying that even if Albertans vote in favour of the measures, they will not accomplish anything.Naheed Nenshi dismissed Premier Danielle Smith’s proposed constitutional changes when speaking with reporters in Calgary on Tuesday, comparing them to former premier Jason Kenney’s 2021 referendum on removing equalization from the Canadian Constitution.“As for the four constitutional questions, they will never pass,” he stated.“They require seven or ten of the other provinces to agree, as well as the federal government. That will never happen. So why are we wasting our time with these?”.Nenshi vows no more Alberta independence referendums, accusing Smith of changing the law.The four constitutional questions, which appear alongside five immigration-related proposals and a question concerning Alberta's potential independence from Canada, seek to expand provincial authority and change the relationship between Ottawa and the provinces.Some of the constitutional proposals ask Albertans if they support the provincial government working with other provinces to amend the Constitution to have “provincial governments, and not the federal government, select the justices appointed to provincial King's Bench and Appeal courts?” and if they support Alberta working with other provinces to better protect provincial rights from Ottawa’s interference.Under Canada's constitutional amending formula, many changes require the approval of Parliament and at least seven provinces representing 50% of the country's population.However, abolishing the Senate would require unanimous provincial consent, along with Parliament's approval.Nenshi argued that securing the necessary support would be unrealistic and questioned the purpose of holding the vote."When we had the referendum on equalization, what happened? Nothing. And so nothing will happen again on all of these," he said..Schow says Alberta's immigration referendum for protection now and going forward .In October 2021, the Kenney government held a referendum asking Albertans whether Section 36(2) of the Constitution Act — which commits to the principle of federal equalization payments — should be removed from the Constitution.Almost 62% of voters (642,501 votes) voted yes to the proposal, while just over 38% (399,169 votes) said no.Despite that result, the equalization program continues to this day.“I'm hoping Albertans do not give the premier that mandate because it's a recipe for another 12 months of drama with nothing actually getting accomplished,” Nenshi stated.“If Albertans give the premier the mandate on these confusing and poorly written and contradictory questions, the courts may turn her back, other governments may turn her back, but that's what she wants. She wants to be able to blame those Liberal-appointed judges. She wants to be able to blame Ottawa and the other provinces for not doing what she wants."October 13 is the first day of advance voting for the October 19 referendum.
