Alberta’s premier says she welcomes diverse opinions within her caucus after a member of her United Conservative Party opined that a referendum on separation would be good for the province.
Danielle Smith also reiterated on her province-wide radio show Saturday that her government supports Alberta’s staying in Canada and has taken steps to secure provincial autonomy, such as signing the Alberta-Canada energy memorandum of understanding with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“There are others who … don’t believe these grievances can be addressed or will be addressed, and they’ve lost hope in Canada. It’s my job … to find these issues and to solve them one by one by one,” she said.
“So one voice in our caucus has a different perspective, and we are a caucus that allows for diversity of opinions, but I can tell you our caucus and our government supports my view that we are in support of Alberta’s sovereignty within a united Canada.”
UCP MLA promotes petition pushing for independence referendum
Smith made the comments after the radio show’s host asked her about Red Deer-South MLA Jason Stephan’s promotion of a petition pushing for a referendum on separation in an op-ed he penned. It was published on Friday in the conservative media outlet “Western Standard.”
The host asked whether Stephan’s opinion reflects “broader tolerance within (Smith’s) government.”
Stephan, who is also the premier’s parliamentary secretary for constitutional affairs, wrote that he invites “all who love freedom and prosperity” to sign the petition.
Among the arguments he made was that the “Ottawa establishment” is trying to gaslight Albertans into thinking that a referendum will cause economic uncertainty, and that it is about holding Ottawa accountable.
He said Ottawa has cost Alberta jobs and investments and the federal government’s “laws and policies” “erode Albertans’ freedoms in favour of a nanny state.”
“The status quo is unacceptable, and it will get worse. Sign the petition,” he said near the end of his op-ed.
Province-wide petition has until May 2 to collect signatures
The petition, led by the Stay Free Alberta group, has until May 2 to get just under 178,000 signatures.
In recent weeks, Smith and multiple Alberta MLAs have confirmed they have not signed the petition, repeatedly saying they support a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.
But Smith’s government has also been criticized for changing rules to make it easier for a separation question to go on a referendum ballot and for not candidly denouncing the separatist movement.
Businesses worry about instability caused by independence movement
Among the recent critics of Alberta’s government was Doug Griffiths, the president and CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce.
“If I had a choice, it would be for the Alberta government to say, ‘Enough. We’re focusing on business growth, economic growth … not talking about leaving this country,” Griffiths said in an interview earlier this month.
His comments came after the results of an Alberta Chambers of Commerce survey of members and investors suggested that more than half of participants said the provincial separation issue is affecting the provincial economy.
It found that a large portion of businesses believe the separation issue is making it hard to plan for the economic future.
Shauna Feth, the chamber’s chief executive, called separation a top business issue in Alberta.
“The concern isn’t about ideology so much as it is about the uncertainty that that discourse creates,” she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2026.