The launch of a referendum triggered a five-month campaign period for interested parties on both sides of the issue.
Smith said she will vote for Albert to remain. She argues that, while some grievances raised by the separatists are legitimate, the province has recently been able to make significant inroads with Ottawa, including on developing a pipeline project.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has ambitions of making Canada an “energy superpower”, has pressed the case for the province to stay.
“We’re renovating the country as we go, and Alberta being at the centre of that is essential,” Carney, who was raised in Edmonton, Alberta, said in May.
Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who enjoys significant support in Alberta and who was raised in Calgary, also said that his party will be advocating for unity.
Meanwhile, Rath, one of the most prominent separatist voices, has expressed disappointment in the referendum question put forward by Smith, arguing it should have been a direct “stay or leave” option.
He has threatened to organise a vote against her leadership of Alberta’s United Conservative Party, which could put Smith’s political future in jeopardy.
“To hell with 301,620 Albertans who were promised a vote on their question,” he wrote on social media following her announcement. “Danielle Smith just lost her base!”
First Nations in Alberta have also criticised Smith, calling her decision to hold a referendum despite the court ruling “undemocratic” and “authoritarian”.
If Albertans vote to leave, Smith said that would kickstart a “legal process” to hold a binding referendum, adding there are a number of steps that would have to be taken to get there.
“I will accept the result of this referendum,” she said. “That’s why I’ll be campaigning hard to try to convince Albertans of my position, which is to remain.”
She has since said if Albertans vote to move ahead with a binding referendum, that could happen as soon as 2027.
More Stories
Three children and teacher killed by 16-year-old at Oregon primary school
Letters with ‘suspicious substances’ sent to US election offices
Barack Obama tells Glasgow audience drift towards extremism ‘not inevitable’