Danielle Smith promises Alberta separation referendum if signatures warrant

Just in case you didn't believe my previous post on Danielle Smith:  

Danielle Smith Is a Serious Threat to Canada’s Survival as a Country.

Cut and paste from Global News:  https://globalnews.ca/news/11165096/alberta-danielle-smith-address-may-5-2025/

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she would hold a referendum on provincial separation next year if citizens gather the required signatures on a petition.

Smith, in a livestream address, says she wants a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada but the voices of those unhappy with Confederation are not fringe extremists and must be listened to.

“The vast majority of these individuals are not fringe voices to be marginalized or vilified. They are loyal Albertans. They are, quite literally, our friends and neighbors who’ve just had enough of having their livelihoods and prosperity attacked by a hostile federal government,” Smith said.The speech comes a week after Smith’s United Conservative government introduced legislation that, if passed, will sharply reduce the bar petitioners need to meet to trigger a provincial referendum.

The bill, introduced the day after the federal election, would change citizen-initiated referendum rules to require a petition signed by 10 per cent of the eligible voters in a previous general election — down from 20 per cent of total registered voters.

Applicants would also get 120 days, rather than 90, to collect the required 177,000 signatures.

“To be clear from the outset, our government will not be putting a vote on separation from Canada on the referendum ballot,” Smith said on Monday.

“However, if there is a successful citizen-led referendum petition that is able to gather the requisite number of signatures requesting such a question to be put on a referendum, our government will respect the democratic process and include that question on the 2026 provincial referendum ballot, as well.”

As Prime Minister Mark Carney prepares to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in person in Washington on Tuesday to discuss the tariff trade war and other issues, Smith said Liberal rule has turned Canada into an international laughing  stock.“We have the most abundant and accessible natural resources of any country on Earth, and yet we landlock them, sell what we do produce to a single customer to the south of us while enabling polluting dictatorships to eat our lunch,” she said.

Addendum

Image from the Globe and Mail:

People gather in support of Alberta becoming the 51st state during a rally at the Legislature in Edmonton, on May 3.