From deck parties in Red Deer to farmers market tables in Spruce Grove, Albertans from all walks of life have been coming together to make their voices heard on the future of their province.
Volunteers from a citizen initiative called Alberta Forever Canadian have been working across the province to get signatures on a petition launched a month ago for a referendum asking: “Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?”
The petition needs just shy of 300,000 signatures before October 30 to move forward – that’s over 3,000 signatures a day. To make that goal a reality, a growing army of volunteers have been busy talking to neighbours, friends, and strangers across Alberta about their vision for the province and its place in Canada.
Led by Thomas Lukaszuk, former Deputy Premier, the initiative is a direct response to Alberta’s separatist movement.
Lukaszuk grew up in Poland and came to Canada to escape martial law. “Canada gave my family a second chance,” he told the CBC. “I cherish Canada.”
Many Albertans hold this perspective. If a referendum were held on separation, over half of Albertans would “definitely” vote to stay, according to an Angus Reid poll conducted in May.
“Fair to be upset”
For Teresa Drake, a volunteer from Spruce Grove, the separatist movement has been too negative to bring any good results.
She understands Albertans’ frustration with their current lot within Canada. It’s fair to be upset about the province’s resource development and presence in Canadian politics, she says, but she disagrees with their approach.
“Trying to form a brand new country based on negativity and a very narrow mindset of financial gains, it’s not a good start,” she said in an interview with TheRockies.Life. “How do you put that out for the world?”
“It is okay to want to remain the status quo and not sell the house just because the roof is leaking,” she said of the unity movement. “Selling it might seem like an easy escape in the short term, but it comes with serious risks, costs, and consequences, some of which you may not fully anticipate.”
Drake volunteers daily, some days at bigger events like the Agra Fair in Spruce Grove, some days at a table set up in a friend’s driveway.
While on the campaign trail, she has spoken with dozens of Albertans, from a farmer whose family had farmed the land for more than 100 years to someone who’d just become a Canadian citizen last year.
She says many people “don’t trust the situation that the separatists are selling.” People wonder about their financial plan and how Alberta would manage being a landlocked country.
Neighbourhood parties
To encourage friends and neighbours to sign the petition, Doug and Debbie Rowe have opened up their home in Red Deer.
“We just put it out there to all of our friends that we’re having a signing party on our deck at this time. Please come and show up,” Doug said in an interview with TheRockies.Life.
Among the participants was their 94-year-old neighbour, who had not heard about the petition.
“We sat down and explained it to her,” Doug recalled, “And she said, ‘Absolutely I want to sign that form. I want Alberta to be part of Canada.’”
The idea has snowballed – two more of their friends have since hosted signing parties.
“People are relieved to see people stepping up and getting signatures. They were waiting for something,” Debbie said.
Talking politics at the market
Some volunteers have been using the opportunity to educate and understand their fellow citizens.
Robin Armitage volunteers with her husband at the farmers’ market in Red Deer. Several people have asked her whether the petition is “just to benefit Carney,” she told TheRockies.Life.
“This is not a political thing,” she told them. “This is: do you as a person want to be part of Canada or not?”
She’s explained how equalization payments work, and has talked about the importance of both sides of the political spectrum being willing to talk to one another.
“If people didn’t vote differently, that wouldn’t be good,” she said. “It’s important that there’s checks and balances and so that’s fine. But when your reasons are something that’s just untrue, it’s amazing to me.”
Those who come by to sign are from all ages and all walks of life. One man was an acquaintance who recounted to her that he lived through the Quebec separatist movement in the 1990s. “I’m not doing it again,” he told her.
Still others are young people who only just meet the minimum age requirement of 18.
Armitage, who is 71, has been volunteering her whole life. “I’ve never had so many people thank me for doing what I was doing,” she said.
The thank yous and conversations have been emotional for Armitage. “At points I was almost crying,” she said.
Volunteering on the campaign has reignited her hope in her fellow citizens. “There are amazing people in this city. And in Lacombe, and in Ponoka, and all around central Alberta,” she says.
She and her husband come home at the end of their volunteer shifts exhausted but enriched.
“Both of us flopped down on the couch and were like, “Oh my god, I’m exhausted.” But I said to him, ‘My heart is so happy.’ He said, ‘Didn’t that make you feel good?’
“So we said we’re going to do it every Saturday that we can.”
