Alberta cabinet minister who introduced separation vote says he wants a united Canada

EDMONTON — The cabinet minister who set the wheels in motion for a possible referendum on Alberta separating from Canada says he wants the country to remain united.

Nate Glubish says if a referendum goes ahead, he’ll fight relentlessly for Alberta to stick with Confederation.

“I will continue to work every day to persuade Albertans that our best path forward is to stay in Canada,” Glubish, the technology and innovation minister, said in a social media post Wednesday night.

“If a referendum is held on Oct. 19, I’ll be voting to stay.

“I hope you will too.”

His comment came hours after he introduced the motion in a bipartisan legislature committee meeting. It asks for Premier Danielle Smith and her cabinet to add a separation question to a list of nine others about immigration and constitutional concerns already set for an Oct. 19 referendum.

The motion didn’t pass, because it hit a bizarre roadblock. While committee members debated it, the United Conservative Party caucus sent out a news release saying a vote had passed it.

Opposition NDP members called into question the integrity of the process.

The committee is to meet again Thursday afternoon, and in the evening Smith is set to speak in a televised address.

Before Smith even spoke Thursday, reaction began surfacing on what will happen if Smith calls for a vote to separate.

In North Vancouver, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he and all Conservative MPs will press for Alberta to remain part of Canada in any such separation referendum campaign.

“I’m a strong Canadian federalist, a proud Albertan and a proud Canadian. I want a strong Alberta within a united Canada,” Poilievre told reporters.

Wednesday’s committee motion was based on a pro-Canada petition organized by former Alberta deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk.

Signed by more than 400,000, it calls for the referendum question: “Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?”

Lukaszuk has said he would like to see the petition force a referendum but also lead legislature members to affirming in a house vote their commitment to Canada.

On Wednesday, UCP committee members hammered Lukaszuk with questions about whether he wants a referendum.

Lukaszuk said it doesn’t matter what he wants, as it’s up to the government. He suggested the UCP is trying to use him and his petition as cover to hold a separation vote.

“If you choose to put any question you want to a referendum, you will be the proponent of a referendum of breaking up Canada, and you will bear all the consequences of that position,” he said.

The NDP has accused Smith’s government of twisting Lukaszuk’s petition as a lifeboat to force a separation vote, while a second petition spearheaded by separatists is tied up in the courts.

NDP committee member Rakhi Pancholi said the government has shown its true colours by orchestrating a separatist vote despite never campaigning on it.

“The UCP is absolutely, undeniably, 100 per cent a separatist party,” she told the committee. “There is no doubt now.”

Glubish sparred with Lukaszuk in the meeting and said the panel is simply delivering a vote that 400,000 Albertans asked for.

Glubish repeated that message in his social media post. “You don’t get to spend months telling 400,000 Albertans that their signatures will lead to a referendum, collect those signatures, meet the legal threshold, and then cry foul when someone moves to hold the referendum.

“That is not serious. That is not honest.”

It has been a long and twisted journey involving the two petitions.

Lukaszuk began gathering signatures a year ago with the name Forever Canadian. Under previous provincial rules, he needed just under 300,000 signatures to force the government to consider the issue. Elections Alberta certified the petition at the end of the year.

Up until Wednesday, the government had done little to act on it, other than to send it to the committee for recommendations on how to proceed.

The competing separatist petition, organized by the group Stay Free Alberta, started strong then hit the ditch.

Its question: “Do you agree that the province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?”

Under new legislation from Smith’s government, organizers needed roughly 178,000 names.

Last year, Elections Alberta asked the courts whether the question was constitutional. Before the judge could rule, Smith’s government changed the law again, voiding the agency’s right to put such questions to the courts.

The judge issued his ruling anyway, saying the question would indeed violate the Constitution.

Stay Free Alberta’s second attempt at a petition was issued in January, and three weeks ago the group submitted what it said was more than 300,000 signatures.

That petition was put in legal limbo last week. Several First Nations challenged it in court, arguing it violates treaty rights.

A judge agreed last week, and Smith promised to appeal what she called an “anti-democratic” decision.

The NDP has accused Smith of being both arsonist and firefighter, proclaiming she loves a united Canada while clearing the path for a vote on separation.

They say she’s walking a political tightrope, championing Canada to stay onside with most Albertans while clearing the path for a separation vote to appease hardliners in her caucus and party.

Smith has said she’s a Canadian patriot but voices of those disaffected deserve to be heard.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2026.

— With files from Wolfgang Depner in Victoria

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press