Poilievre says he’ll campaign to keep Alberta in the ‘Canadian family’ as a referendum looms
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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Thursday he will campaign across Alberta encouraging the people in his home province to stay in Canada if there’s a referendum on separation this fall.
Speaking to reporters in North Vancouver, B.C., Poilievre said he’s a “strong Canadian federalist” and will do everything he can to keep Alberta in the federation if voters are given a choice on whether to stay or go.
“I will be campaigning across the province encouraging Albertans to stay as part of the Canadian family,” he said when asked what he will do if separatists there succeed in getting an independence question before voters.
Poilievre also vowed that he won’t be the only one campaigning to hold the country together.
While Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party base is riven with division over the question of independence, Poilievre has said there isn’t a single separatist among Alberta Conservative MPs. He vowed to press them into service to make the case to their constituents.
“All Conservatives will be campaigning for Canadian unity in Alberta,” he said. “I stand for a united country and we’re going to campaign every day and every way.”
WATCH | Poilievre says Conservatives will campaign for Albertans to stay ‘part of the Canadian family’:
Poilievre says Conservatives will campaign for Albertans to stay ‘part of the Canadian family’
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he wants Alberta to stay ‘within a united Canada,’ and said his Conservatives will start campaigning in Alberta ‘every day, in every way to unite this country around hope.’
Separatist elements in Alberta say they have collected the hundreds of thousands of signatures needed to petition for a referendum on independence.
But last week an Alberta court ruled that the petition shouldn’t have been issued under provincial law, and that Smith’s government had neglected its constitutional duty to consult First Nations.
Smith, a soft federalist who has said she believes in a “sovereign Alberta within a united Canada,” has called that decision anti-democratic. She is under pressure from separatists to somehow get a referendum before voters this fall or face a challenge to her leadership.
Poilievre said that while the country is stronger together, some injustices must be addressed to placate Albertans who are justifiably angry about how Ottawa has treated the province’s natural resources sector in recent years.
“Alberta deserves a fair deal in this country, which means that we unblock the resources, we allow the oil and gas sector to grow, we get the federal government off their backs and out of the way,” he said.
Kenney lauds Poilievre’s ‘unqualified patriotism’
Poilievre, who now represents a rural Alberta riding after decamping there following an election loss in his old Ontario seat, has said relatively little about a possible referendum until now.
Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney, an ardent federalist and a frequent target of separatist vitriol, has encouraged Poilievre to become more actively involved in making the case for a united Canada.
“I have zero doubts in his unqualified patriotism, and I think he will find his voice on that. He grew up in Alberta, he represents an Alberta riding,” Kenney told a Calgary crowd last week.
“I would love to see a version of Mr. Poilievre this September that reminds some of us of Jean Charest in 1995, and I think that’s possible. If this thing goes forward, I fully expect him to take a leadership role,” Kenney said, referencing the former Progressive Conservative leader who emerged as as sort of Captain Canada during the last Quebec referendum on independence.
Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney speaks during an interview in Calgary, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
Prime Minister Mark Carney has presented his memorandum of understanding with Smith — something that morphed into an “implementation agreement” last week after the two cut a deal to rework the industrial carbon tax regime — as Ottawa’s way of showing Albertans that “Canada works.”
After the last Liberal government rejected an oil pipeline to the Pacific, prompting a wave of anger in Alberta, Carney has also thrown his support behind a new artery to tidewater to ship the province’s crude to markets in Asia.
During his own swing along the West Coast on Wednesday, Carney said the world is grappling with an “energy crisis” as the conflict in Iran juices oil prices and takes huge amounts of the global oil and gas supply offline.
He said Canada must fill that void by turbocharging energy development to replace depleted supply elsewhere — a choice that he said would also make the country collectively richer.
“As someone who was raised in Alberta, I’m a proud Albertan, my view is very much that the best place for Alberta is in Canada, a Canada that works, which is what we’re pursuing. We’re making progress on behalf of all Albertans, we’re making all of Canada stronger,” Carney said when asked about the prospect of a referendum.
Still, Poilievre has been critical of Alberta’s deal with Carney.
While recognizing Smith’s “hard work” and dedication to “fight for the good people of Alberta,” Poilievre said in a statement that the deal between her and Carney doesn’t go far enough.
Poilievre wants to see more of the last Liberal government’s climate agenda dismantled, namely the northern B.C. coast tanker ban and the more stringent environmental assessment regulations enacted under former Bill C-69.
“Sadly, Prime Minister Carney has kept in place every anti-development law from Justin Trudeau,” Poilievre said.
While those laws remain, Carney has designated dozens of projects for fast-tracked reviews through the newly established Major Projects Office as part of his commitment to “build big, build bold.”
