Alberta's Premier Says Voters Gave Her a Mandate. Nine Other Questions Are Still Being Counted.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in a televised address aired Tuesday night that her government was committed to pursuing reforms as part of a mandate delivered by Albertans on referendum night.
Preliminary results show about three-quarters of voters wanted to remain in Canada. The margins on the nine other referendum questions, which dealt with immigration and constitutional changes, are far closer as ballots continue to be tallied.
Smith has said she would seek majority rule — a 50 per cent plus one threshold — to act on those questions.
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Smith also reiterated that she would not hold another referendum on the issue as long as she is premier. Meanwhile, the original citizen's initiative petition that called for a vote on separation remains stalled before the courts, pending an appeal. That's not an answer to the separation question so much as a parking spot for it.
The Opposition NDP's reading is less flattering: it says that in advancing the referendum, the premier showed she was more focused on self-preservation than on Albertans' interests. NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said the referendum had come at a "tremendous financial and mental cost." Buy the charge or not, the same result can be sold as a mandate or as a stunt, depending on who is holding the microphone.
Separatists aren't treating the file as closed either: Alberta Prosperity Project co-founder Jeffrey Rath said the results wouldn't mark the end of the province's independence movement. Kathy Flett, leader of Alberta Women for Independence, called the premier's words "nothing surprising."