Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
While everyone from UCP members to cabinet ministers were being asked questions on a range of topics like vaccines, auto insurance reform and policing, one man’s turn caught everyone’s attention.
Jeffrey Rath of the Alberta Prosperity Project is leading efforts to separate the province from Canada. He is leading a court effort to get the referendum question on the ballot next year. Rath went to one of the mikes and did not ask Sarkar any questions, but went into the room.
“How many of us favor a free and independent Alberta?” he shouted.
People cheered loudly and stood up in support. Premier Danielle Smith, who was supposed to act as moderator, had to step in and lower the temperature.
“I support an independent Alberta within a united Canada”. This response was met with several applause and some pushback from the crowd.
Speaking to CityNews after this, Rath raises the issue of the MoU that Smith signed with the Prime Minister this week.
Rath says his time on the mic was not to ask questions of the cabinet, but to assess independence support at the AGM.
“We did this to send a message to Danielle Smith and this cabinet that her party is an independence party. Her party wants a free and independent Alberta and they better start leading like we’re going to be that country. Because that’s what their members demand,” Rath said.
“I just ask everyone to be careful,” Smith said. He is still trying to control the crowd. “This party is a merger of two parties with different cultural traditions. Sometimes the way we resolve disputes is to resolve them through referendums.”
Closing arguments in the Alberta secession case are scheduled for Dec. 5. Meanwhile, a petition confirming Alberta’s stay in Canada is still going through the verification process by Elections Alberta.