Carney warns Alberta’s independence vote from Canada could match Brexit as ‘dangerous rebellion’
TORONTO – Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday compared Alberta’s vote on whether to move on from Brexit to independence, calling it a “fatal mistake.”
Danielle Smith, the premier of Canada’s oil-rich province, Alberta, said last week that a vote will be held on October 19 on whether Alberta should remain in Canada or take legal action under the Constitution to hold a mandatory referendum if it leaves.
Carney drew on his experience with Brexit in his comments. Carney was governor of the Bank of England in 2016 when Britain voted to leave the European Union, and helped navigate the central bank through it.
“I saw firsthand what happened in the United Kingdom where the idea was, ‘Vote for this, it’ll be easy and we’ll negotiate, etc.,'” Carney said. “It’s 10 years later they’re trying to undo what people didn’t think they were voting for, but they ended up having it.”
Smith’s party did not run or mention the referendum in the last provincial election campaign.
Carney said the vote doesn’t help if he’s trying to attract investors to Canada. He suggested that it is not democratic.
“Is it a democracy for Albertans? Did they vote for this in the last provincial election? No, they didn’t. It wasn’t on the ballot,” Carney said.
Smith said he supports Alberta remaining in Canada. Some have compared his stance to that of former British Prime Minister David Cameron before the Brexit referendum, which he embraced as a way to manage his ruling party’s singing group while not wanting the UK to leave the European Union.
Carney is working to get a new oil pipeline built from Alberta to Canada’s Pacific coast. Many Albertans have long complained that Ottawa has not done enough to get Alberta’s oil giant into Asian markets.
“We have to be very careful about this. There is a very strong case in Canada, strong Alberta in a united Canada,” Carney said. “I look forward to making that case with many other Albertans and Canadians over the next 150 days.”
Responding to Carney’s comments on Monday, Smith said secession is an issue for Albertans alone.
“Albertans’ frustration has been fueled by the past 10 years of bad policies in Ottawa under Justin Trudeau,” Smith said in a statement from his office, referring to the former premier.
“I will also remind all Canadians that we must not dismiss the legitimate complaints of Albertans, instead we must focus on dealing with these problems, restore hope in Canada, and show that our country can and does work.”
