I’m in Alberta to report on Monday’s referendum, which will include a question on whether the province should remain in Canada or move on to a second vote on secession.
My article on that and another with the results won’t appear until after this newsletter hits your inbox. To get a glimpse of the provincial mood — and, as a bonus, to take in spectacular scenery — I have been driving around Calgary and the rural, southern part of the province to meet Albertans. But on Thursday, I attended the first of what will be a series of large events for and against separation.
On Saturday, Let Alberta Decide, one of the separatist groups, will gather its supporters outside the legislature in Edmonton. But Forever Canada, the main group for Albertans who wish to stay, moved first. Prime Minister Mark Carney flew in to attend that group’s last large rallies — the first in Calgary on Thursday and the second in Edmonton on Friday.
About three hours before the event on Thursday was scheduled to start, I wandered over to the exhibition hall that was hosting it on the Calgary Stampede grounds. There was already a steady stream of people coming out of parking lots and a transit station to line up for the security check-in.
Ultimately, it was a long wait for many people. Although the organizers had essentially recreated an airport-size security check-in, some people said it had taken them about two hours to enter the hall, a vast, windowless space. Forever Canada hadn’t used the trick of making a crowd look larger by booking a smaller venue.
It turned out that there was no need. As the event finally got underway after the delayed start, the M.C. for the evening had to direct the crowd to squeeze over to one side of the hall to let more people enter.
The speeches sometimes veered away from the merits of a united Canada and into general pushback against the political agenda of Danielle Smith, Alberta’s premier. She was not at the rally, though she supports remaining in Canada.
The question of Alberta’s future within Canada was tacked onto nine other questions Ms. Smith is putting to voters in this referendum. Five of those questions focus on immigrants — asking, among other things, about giving health care, education and social services to temporary residents who lack “an Alberta-approved immigration status.”
Calgary’s mayor, Jeromy Farkas, whose parents fled Hungary in 1956 for Canada, denounced Ms. Smith’s immigration proposals, as well as some policies of hers that aren’t on the ballot: limits on gender-affirming health care for children under 16; a new requirement for parental consent when children want to choose their pronouns at school; and limits on teaching around gender identity, sexual orientation and “human sexuality.”
In a series of shout-outs, Mr. Farkas said: “Let’s hear it for every queer kid growing up in Alberta! I am one of those kids, and I never thought I’d live to see the day when someone like me would become mayor of Calgary.”
He added: “No matter who you are, you belong in the city. You are welcome in the city. You are loved in the city and you have a future in this country.”
The crowd’s loudest cheers during the mayor’s speech erupted when Mr. Farkas shouted, “Let’s hear it for trans rights!”
Mr. Carney began his remarks — as he has in the past — by linking Ms. Smith’s referendum to the trade and diplomatic war with the United States.
“The stakes are high,” Mr. Carney said. “This referendum — let’s be clear — it comes at the worst possible time. The world has become more dangerous and divided. There are some outside our borders who are working to break us so they can own us.”
When Mr. Carney had to pause his speech because someone in the audience was experiencing medical distress, the Calgary crowd did something that would have been unlikely in Alberta while Justin Trudeau was prime minister: chant his name. Raising his hands, Mr. Carney successfully changed the chant to “Canada, Canada, Canada.”
(During the pause, one spectator asked after Mr. Carney’s cat, Nico. The response: “He’s good.”)
Mr. Carney, who was raised and educated in Edmonton, acknowledged that Albertans have legitimate grievances when it comes to the federal government.
“Growing up, I remember how Ottawa made Albertans feel like our resources weren’t our own,” he said, before apparently commenting on Mr. Trudeau’s environmental policies. “More recently, we were made to feel that our energy contributions were running against the tides of history.”
As expected, Mr. Carney highlighted his government’s efforts in Alberta. In particular, he has created a new office to accelerate the approval and construction of large projects by governments and the private sector and put its headquarters in Calgary. And he promoted the government’s signature project: a new oil pipeline to the Pacific Coast.
When Mr. Carney said the pipeline “will reduce our dependence on the United States,” he got the loudest and most sustained cheer of the night.
“Careful,” Mr. Carney said, grinning at the outsize response. “They might think that’s election interference.”
Trans Canada
This section was compiled by Vjosa Isai, a reporter for The Times based in Toronto.
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Ian Austen reports on Canada for The Times. A Windsor, Ontario, native now based in Ottawa, he has reported on the country for two decades. He can be reached at [email protected].
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