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Rob Breakenridge: Premier campaigning hard for her referendum questions. Will that include separation?

If we take the premier at her word as to her own personal conviction and her government’s position, then she should 'support the remain in Canada side'

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Premier Danielle Smith made it clear last week — she will not be a neutral observer when it comes to the referendum campaign.

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That, of course, pertains to the nine questions the government has decided to put to Albertans on Oct. 19. Whether it applies to the other, big, likely-to-be-on-the-ballot question remains to be seen.

However, based on the premier’s words and actions last week, there’s no reason it shouldn’t. Anything less would be a cowardly cop-out.

Last week’s update on the fall referendum wasn’t to announce anything new being added to the ballot — such as a question on Alberta separation — but rather to unveil the government’s new website aimed at informing Albertans on the nine questions relating to immigration policy and constitutional reform.

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To be clear, this information is being provided by a government that is actively seeking a “yes” vote on all of these questions, and openly endorses the policy changes such a result would usher in.

This is not a neutral hub or clearing house for information on these matters, but rather a branch of the “yes” campaign, which is in turn being led by and funded by the Alberta government.

Not that the premier was coy or shy about any of this. As she noted, “These are clearly policies that we would like to get a mandate from, so I’m not neutral in it. I think these are the right policies for Albertans.”

Smith was also surprisingly blunt as to why she wouldn’t put forward a separatist question. “My position is we should remain in Canada. That’s the position of our government. We believe we should assert sovereignty within a united Canada. That is our policy.”

It’s encouraging to hear that Alberta’s premier is not on the fence here, and that she’s willing to publicly distance herself from the separatist movement.

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As if to underscore that point, Smith’s remarks drew both condemnation and a warning from separatists.

One prominent separatist told Postmedia’s Rick Bell: “She has no business coming out and telling the people who elected her leader that she disagrees with them. She is taking an adversarial position against her own membership by supporting the remain-in-Canada side. If she’s not going to support us, she should stay out of it.”

Otherwise, he says, “I don’t know how well that bodes for her future.”

While polls have indicated a slight majority of self-identified UCP supporters are willing to support separation — and clearly the separatists have clout within the UCP — the party itself hasn’t embraced separation.

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The UCP was founded as a party with “loyalty to a united Canada, and a commitment for Alberta to be a leader in the Canadian federation that constructively defends the best interests of the province and its constitutional sovereignty.”

If that’s no longer the case, the UCP should drop the charade and be honest with Albertans.

But if we take the premier at her word as to her own personal conviction and her government’s position, as well as the now-established principle that her government can and should fight for desired referendum outcomes, then she should “support the remain in Canada side.”

As Smith said last week, she’s “not going to just be a bystander” and she’s prepared to “be out actively persuading the public that this is the direction we want to go.”

It would be strange and hypocritical to apply that to her chosen questions, but to punt that principle on the most important question.

The only reason not to would be the not-so-thinly veiled threat from the movement that believes it controls both the premier’s party and the premier’s fate.

We’ll know that’s true if the premier chooses to be “just a bystander.”

Rob Breakenridge is a Calgary-based podcaster and writer. He can be found at robbreakenridge.ca and reached at rob.breakenridge@gmail.com

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