default
CALGARY – October 16, 2026 – Prime Minister Mark Carney spent Thursday in Calgary telling Albertans to reject nine of the ten questions on Monday’s referendum ballot. “Make sure everyone’s out there marking their ballots … including, ‘No to the Nine,’” he said at a park in the city’s northeast. Later that evening he told a Forever Canadian rally that voting to leave the country would be a “dangerous bluff” and that Alberta is “at the heart” of the Pacific Link pipeline Ottawa designated a project of national interest on October 1.
“No to the Nine” is a federalist advertising line. The nine questions cover immigration rules and constitutional changes. The tenth asks whether Alberta should remain in Canada or hold a later binding vote on separation. Carney said Ottawa has already taken control of immigration without a referendum. “We’ve increased the number of economic migrants and we’re increasing the co-operation with the provinces in terms of those selections,” he said. “I don’t need a referendum to tell us to co-operate more with the provinces on immigration — I think that’s where we’re headed.” He added that progress on those files is coming “irrespective of the result.”
Premier Danielle Smith answered on X. She and Carney have found common ground on many things over the last 18 months, she wrote, “However, it appears that he has yet to fully understand just how damaging the open-border policies of his predecessor were. Those policies caused Canada’s cost of living to skyrocket, overwhelmed our social services, and made homes and jobs unattainable for thousands of young Canadians. That’s why I’m encouraging Albertans to vote ‘yes to the rest.’” Smith has said she herself voted to remain in Canada. She has also said the nine questions are the ones she “wants a mandate” on. “I haven’t been neutral on that,” she told CBC last week. “I’ve been persuading people that this is what we need to do.”
Carney is in Edmonton today for a second Forever Canadian rally. Smith is expected at a separate event in Calgary. The ballots are counted on Monday. A yes on the separation question does not take Alberta out of the country. It starts the process toward a second vote. Smith has said she will not hold another if the remain side wins, at least while she is premier. Carney’s line on Thursday was narrower than his Thanksgiving message. He did not only ask Albertans to stay. He asked them to vote no on the nine questions Smith is pushing. She asked them to vote yes. The referendum is in three days.
The nine questions are not the separation question. They are the ones Smith has treated as a package. Carney’s “No to the Nine” line is an attempt to split that package from the stay-or-go question. Whether voters treat them as separate is the part the polls have not settled. Advance voting runs through Saturday. The results will be known Monday night. Until then the two leaders are in the same province, saying different things about the same nine lines on the ballot.
About the Author
Discover more from RL News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
