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Who puts Alberta first? Separatism debate in Alberta legislature
May 28, 2025
It sure sounds like the member opposite just said exactly what I said. It’s that we do not want a permanent feature of Alberta politics to be parties that send representatives to Ottawa whose sole purpose is to break up the country or brand new political parties whose sole purpose is to take this province out of Confederation. That is not the mandate of the United Conservative Party. What we are working towards is a united Canada with respect for provincial constitutional sovereignty over our areas of jurisdiction. ... They never put Alberta first. All they do is talk to their masters in Ottawa – first it was Jagmeet Singh; now it’s Mark Carney.
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0:00
[Applause]
0:00
members it is now time for oral question
0:03
period and the leader of the official
0:06
opposition has questioned one
0:11
Madam Speaker we now know that the
0:13
premier's openness to a separatist
0:15
referendum is all about one thing
0:17
holding on to her party leadership It's
0:20
not about demanding a better deal for
0:22
Albertans It's not about our economy and
0:25
a better life for people No she said it
0:27
herself It's really about not splitting
0:30
her political party When it comes to
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Alberta separation why is the premier
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putting her political interests and her
0:37
party ahead of what is best for all
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Albertans
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The honorable premier Mr Speaker nothing
0:44
could be further from the truth I can
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tell you what we do not want in Alberta
0:50
We do not want an attitude of separation
0:52
to set into the point where they are
0:54
electing block Quebec members to the
0:57
legislature or party Kebecwa members as
0:59
a permanent uh feature of government
1:01
like they see in Quebec This is the
1:03
reason Madam Speaker that I am focused
1:06
on negotiating with the new prime
1:07
minister for greater sovereignty within
1:10
a united Canada That is what my mandate
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is and that is what I will be focusing
1:14
on Those members opposite should not be
1:17
urging on the creation of new parties
1:19
that will permanently divide Albertans
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and we certainly won't on this side
1:25
Leader of the official opposition
1:27
[Applause]
1:31
So the premier admits this is about not
1:34
creating new political parties and
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splintering her power She said quote
1:38
"You can see there isn't an outlet It
1:40
creates a new party." In Quebec right
1:42
now the party Quebec is polling highest
1:44
in the of the provincial parties and we
1:47
all see the block won a significant
1:48
number of seats End quote She is risking
1:51
national unity for herself her power and
1:54
her party Mr Speaker why is the premier
1:57
dividing the country and our province
2:00
just to avoid dividing her party That's
2:02
right the honorable the premier
2:05
Sounds like the member opposite just
2:07
said exactly what I said is that we do
2:09
not want a permanent feature of Alberta
2:12
politics to be parties that send
2:15
representatives to Ottawa whose sole
2:17
purpose is to break up the country or
2:19
brand new political parties whose sole
2:21
purpose is to take this province out of
2:23
confederation That is not the mandate of
2:25
the United Conservative Party that what
2:27
we are working towards is a united
2:30
Canada with respect for provincial
2:33
constitutional sovereignty over our
2:35
areas of jurisdiction That is what we
2:37
have been fighting for from the moment
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we've got founded That's been what we've
2:40
been fighting for through the
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legislation we've been putting forward
2:43
and it's what we're going to keep on
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fighting for The leader of the official
2:46
opposition
2:50
The separatists the premier is talking
2:51
about are factions of her own party
2:54
That's right And the action she is
2:56
failing to take is to tell this faction
2:59
of her own party that they are wrong
3:01
That's right She is coddling Alberta's
3:03
separatists securing the endorsements of
3:05
Quebec politicians who try to block our
3:08
pipelines and failing to get good deals
3:11
for Albertans She's ripping up a century
3:14
of treaty relationships with indigenous
3:16
people all to hold on to her own divided
3:19
party and political power Will the
3:21
premier ever put Alberta first ahead of
3:23
the grievances of the separatists in her
3:26
own flawed party That's right Point to
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order Noted at 155 The honorable premier
3:32
Come on Madam Speaker They never put
3:34
Alberta first All they do is they talk
3:37
to their masters in Ottawa First it was
3:39
Jug Meat Sing now it's Mark Carney And
3:41
they dain to tell Albertans what they
3:43
should think and what they should feel
3:45
That's not who we are on this side of
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the house Madam Speaker We listen to
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Albertans We take their concerns
3:50
seriously and then we take those
3:52
concerns forward and we try to get the
3:54
best deal for Alberta putting Alberta's
3:56
interests first That is what our mandate
3:59
is That is what I'm going to do And I'm
4:00
going to continue to work with the prime
4:02
minister so that we can find some kind
4:04
of common ground to bring the
4:05
temperature down so that not only can we
4:07
benefit but the entire country can
4:09
benefit too
4:11
The honorable the honorable member for
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Edmonton West
4:19
Madame Speaker yesterday the minister
4:21
claimed to be working with chiefs on
4:23
Bill 54 and this government's new
4:25
Alberta independence agenda but from
4:27
what treaty chiefs have shared publicly
4:29
there's no working relationship with
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this government All they are doing is
4:33
disrespecting treaty to cater to
4:36
extremists So to the minister can you
4:38
clarify what exactly you're working on
4:40
with First Nations leaders because all
4:42
we've seen is a government doubling down
4:44
on separatism while ignoring the clear
4:46
and constitutionally protected rights
4:48
raised by treaty chiefs The honorable
4:51
minister of indigenous relations
4:54
uh for the question Madam Speaker um
4:57
probably in the last two days I probably
4:58
had six chiefs here from across the
5:01
province talking about various issues Uh
5:03
we just met on yesterday uh Chief Conra
5:06
Peggham talking about justice and how we
5:08
can help them with the police force up
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there many things going on Madam Speaker
5:12
Uh and uh Madam Speaker we we honor the
5:15
treaties in Alberta We work closely with
5:17
our First Nation people We've done so
5:19
much more than the rest of Canada
5:20
combined Mr Madam Speaker when it comes
5:22
to reconciliation efforts Everything
5:25
from uh we just uh opened up a new uh
5:28
skating arena for white fish The
5:30
honorable member West Hendai
5:34
[Applause]
5:36
Given that the minister yesterday said
5:38
he would rather run away and hide than
5:41
face the backlash over Bill 54 and
5:44
separatist rhetoric and given that the
5:46
premier refuses to disavow either and
5:49
has doubled down on the legislation and
5:51
rhetoric Will the minister stand in this
5:53
house and finally denounce the
5:55
government's separatist agenda or will
5:57
he continue to run his policy of running
6:00
and hiding because even Kuster stood his
6:03
ground
6:06
The honorable government house leader
6:11
Mr Speaker again we see the childish
6:14
personal attacks from the members
6:16
opposite I'll tell you what m Madam
6:18
Speaker the minister of indigenous
6:20
relations is not running and hiding from
6:22
anything He has stood in this chamber
6:27
The honorable government house leader
6:30
the minister of indig relations stood in
6:31
this chamber for the last six years and
6:33
defended this government and defended
6:35
this province and built relationships
6:36
that are unprecedented with First
6:38
Nations in Alberta Mr Speaker Madam
6:40
Speaker and I'll tell you what I defend
6:42
him all day every day just like this
6:44
caucus does
6:47
The honorable member for West Given that
6:50
despite all of that this week the
6:52
minister has refused to assure
6:54
indigenous peoples in Alberta that he or
6:56
his government will reject separatism
6:58
And given that he appears to treat this
7:00
direct attack on treaty rights as quote
7:02
"No big deal." And I'm hoping this
7:05
doesn't affect our relationship Does the
7:07
minister understand that attacking
7:08
treaty rights isn't something First
7:10
Nations will get over Those rights are
7:13
foundational to the existence of this
7:14
province and country Does the minister
7:16
recognize that Alberta is treaty land
7:18
and all Albertans are treaty people Yes
7:22
the honorable Minister of Indigenous
7:24
Relations I enjoy being a treaty person
7:27
It's it's a beneficial agreement for
7:29
everyone M Madam Speaker and uh we've
7:31
done so much when it comes to
7:32
reconciliation in this province and I
7:35
don't know how many times alls I'm
7:36
hearing is separationist from that side
7:38
of the house They keep bringing it up
7:40
bringing it up Maybe there's a hidden
7:41
agenda there I'm not sure But alls I'm
7:44
hearing on our side is we're
7:45
consistently advocating for a strong and
7:47
prosperous Alberta within a united
7:50
Canada
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