Conservative Party of Canada leader and MP for Battle River-Crowfoot, Pierre Poilievre, continues to show firm support for Alberta’s inclusion as part of Canada.
The Alberta MP spoke in Surrey on Friday that “conservatives love Canada” and he hopes he can help Albertans see the positives to remaining in Canada.
“We’re going to fight for a united Canada every day and in every way. We’re going to reach out to Albertans in every corner of the province to make the case for our wonderful country,” he said.
“We’re going to do it through hope. We want Albertans to understand that they can have an even better future in our country. A country where their resources are unblocked. Where their legitimate property, including their firearms, are respected. Where their streets are safe with criminals locked up. Where free enterprise allows them to start businesses and achieve great things. Where their provincial government has all of the same powers that the Quebec government has, so that Albertans can feel that they are in charge of their own destiny within Canada.”
Poilievre was speaking in the wake of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith pushing a referendum question on Alberta independence onto the ballot in October. The provincial government will ask Albertans, “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”
Poilievre, who lost his seat as an MP in Ottawa last year and ran in a byelection in Battle River Crowfoot last August to regain a seat, noted in a statement on Thursday that separatism was never a problem under Stephan Harper’s federal conservative government 10 years ago.
“I just want to recognize that it was only about 10 years ago, under a Conservative government, where there was absolutely no separation movement whatsoever in Alberta,” he said.
“The PQ and the BQ – the two separatist parties in Quebec – they didn’t even exist anymore. They had been wiped off the electoral map, and it was thought that separatism was a thing of the past in Canada.
“I want to thank Prime Minister Harper for uniting the country in that way because it is the job of a Prime Minister to unite, and it’s worth asking how the current Prime Minister is doing in that regard, given the situation in both Quebec and in Alberta.
“But as for me, I know where I stand. I stand for a united country, and we’re going to campaign every day and every way to unite this country around hope.”