Alberta Premier Would Allow Separation Referendum if Petition Requirements Are Met

Premier Smith announces a series of initiatives to negotiate for her province’s interests, including a ‘guaranteed corridor’ for exporting oil and gas.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks in Edmonton on April 29, 2025. Jason Franson/The Canadian Press

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she doesn’t support secession, but if a citizen-led petition meets the requirements to qualify as a referendum question, her government would allow it to be voted on with other referendum questions in 2026.

Smith made the comments as part of a post-federal election livestream address on May 5, while announcing a set of new initiatives to negotiate with Ottawa for the benefit of her province, including securing a “guaranteed corridor” for Alberta’s oil and gas exports and reforming the equalization program.

Smith said Albertans are “frustrated” by the federal government, noting that the re-elected Liberal government implemented legislation such as the Impact Assessment Act, which she said has effectively stopped pipeline projects.

“It’s not that our preferred candidate and party lost—that happens in a democracy,” she said. “It’s that the same Liberal government, with almost all the same ministers responsible for our nation’s inflation, housing, crime, and budget crisis, and that oversaw the attack on our provincial economy for the past 10 years, has been returned to power.”

Special Negotiating Team, ‘Alberta Next’ Panel

Smith said she will appoint a Special Negotiating Team to work with the federal government on a number of the province’s demands, hoping it will result in a “binding agreement” to be called an “Alberta Accord.”

Included in the demands are ensuring a “guaranteed corridor and port access to tidewater off the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic coasts” so Alberta can export its oil, gas, minerals, and other resources to more markets.

In addition to scrapping the Impact Assessment Act, which she calls a “no new pipelines law,” she wants the federal government to end measures such as net zero electricity regulations, the oil tanker ban on the West coast, the emissions cap on the oil and gas sector, restrictions on plastic products, the net zero vehicle mandate, and plans to regulate industrial carbon emissions.

“These laws are destroying investment confidence and costing Canada and Alberta hundreds of billions in investments each year,” she said.

Ottawa says environmental policies, such as regulations to decarbonize the electricity grid, are needed to protect the environment and human health from the effects of climate change.

“Cutting pollution in communities across the country is good for our climate, economy, health, and well-being,” the government said in a backgrounder in December 2024.

Smith said the negotiating team would also ask Ottawa to refrain from imposing export tariffs or restrictions on exports from Alberta without the consent of the provincial government.

The federal government has said that options for responding to U.S. tariffs include putting restrictions or export tariffs on Alberta’s oil and gas exports to the United States.

Smith added that Ottawa must provide to Alberta “the same per capita federal transfers and equalization” that the other large provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia receive. The equalization program’s stated aim is to address fiscal disparities among provinces.

“We have no issue with Alberta continuing to subsidize smaller provinces with their needs, but there is no excuse for such large and powerful economies like Ontario, Quebec, B.C., or Alberta to be subsidizing one another. That was never the intent of equalization, and it needs to end,” she said.

Smith said another initiative would be to set up an “Alberta Next” panel comprised of judicial, academic, and economic experts holding town halls to gather ideas about the province’s future and how to “better protect Alberta from any current or future hostile policies of the federal government.”

She said some of the more popular ideas from the panel would then be included in a provincial referendum sometime in 2026.

Separation Referendum

Smith said her government wouldn’t be putting forth a separation referendum, but if there is a successful citizen-led petition that gathers the required number of signatures, her government would follow the democratic process and allow that question to be on the 2026 referendum ballot.

Last week, the province lowered the bar for holding referendums, introducing a bill that would extend the signature collection period from 90 to 120 days and set the threshold at 10 percent of eligible voters who participated in the most recent general election.

Currently, constitutional initiatives need backing from 20 percent of province-wide registered voters in two-thirds of Alberta’s constituencies, while legislative or policy initiatives only require support from 10 percent of registered voters across the province.

The issue of Alberta’s secession and a possible separation referendum gained attention during the federal election campaign when a poll indicated that one-quarter of Albertans favoured the idea, with support for a referendum slightly increasing in all provinces if the Liberals were re-elected.

Last weekend, hundreds gathered outside the Alberta legislature in Edmonton to rally for separation from Canada, with some displaying U.S. flags to reflect support for the province becoming part of the United States, something U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he would wish for Canada.

“Let’s talk about the elephant in the room—that being separation,” Smith said in her address.

“We are well aware that there is a large and growing number of Albertans that have lost hope in Alberta having a free and prosperous future as a part of Canada.”

Smith said people on both sides of the debate shouldn’t be vilified. “They are quite literally our friends and neighbours who have just had enough of having their livelihoods and prosperity attacked by a hostile federal government.”

Still, she said, there are many like herself who don’t support Alberta separating from Canada.

“I personally still have hope that there is a path forward for a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada,” she said.

Legislation like the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, which she introduced as one of her first acts as premier, has allowed the province to “fight through much of Ottawa’s damaging interference and prosper in spite of it,” she said.

“I am going to do everything within my power to negotiate a fair deal for Alberta with the new prime minister.”

She also pledged her government “will work with Albertans on various initiatives to better protect Alberta’s provincial sovereignty and economy from Ottawa should those negotiations fail, and the economic attacks continue.”

Smith said the April 28 federal election showed that attitudes among young people are changing when it comes to understanding the importance of free markets and natural resource development.

“People are pushing back against government censorship and ‘cancel culture,'” she said.

Ahead of the election, polls consistently showed a larger share of young Canadians were intending to vote for the Conservatives than for the Liberals.

Just ahead of the election, an April 24 poll by Nanos showed that 44 percent of those aged 18-34 supported the Conservatives, compared to 31 percent who supported the Liberals.

Grievances

She noted that her government has already taken legal action or otherwise opposed a number of Ottawa’s policies such as the Impact Assessment Act for infringing on provincial jurisdiction and preventing the development of resources in Alberta.

She said her experience travelling around the world in recent years has made it evident “that Canada is not viewed as an attractive place to invest in resource development, manufacturing, or agriculture because of our high carbon taxes, endless red tape, and the uncertainty and chaos brought about by these and other federal government policies.”

After the federal election, Smith called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to “immediately” begin work to reset the relationship between Alberta and Ottawa, saying she would not let the status quo continue.

During the election campaign, Smith outlined her province’s priorities, which she said the next prime minister must address to avoid an “unprecedented national unity crisis.” Those demands included the removal of some of Ottawa’s climate policies.

Despite the disagreements between the two governments, Smith repeated a comment she made previously that she had a good “first conversation” with Carney after his April 28 election and that he had “promising things to say” about changing direction on energy policy.

The premier described her first call with Carney on May 2 as a “positive first step,” noting she brought up the federal policies she believes are holding back Alberta’s economy, and that Carney expressed his intention to “rapidly advance” nation-building projects.

In response, Carney said he looked forward to working with Smith, saying “we’re both focused on bringing down the cost of living and increasing opportunities in the energy sector for hard working Albertans.”

During the election campaign, Carney committed to working with provinces to set up energy corridors and speed up the building of projects, while saying he plans on growing both “clean and conventional” energy projects.

However, he has clashed with Alberta on his plan to maintain policies such as the Impact Assessment Act and ramp up carbon taxes on industry. He has said he would ensure regulatory redundancies are avoided and that he would streamline projects.