Premier Danielle Smith’s Alberta Next panel, aimed at wrenching more political control from Ottawa, was spurred to take action in Grande Prairie Wednesday.

The panel is expected to eventually pick six ideas that could become potential referendum questions, and the naysayers were again outnumbered in a packed house of more than 500 attendees.

Many who spoke at the microphone pushed Smith to take the panel’s proposals further.

Those ideas include withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan, withholding social services from some immigrants, taking more control over tax collection and replacing the RCMP.

‘Go time’

Smith, in her closing remarks, said she might take action on some of the files without any public referendum as early as the spring, after the panel submits a report before the end of the year.

“There will be some items that we decide we’re not going to move on,” Smith said.

“There will be items that we decide: we heard enough, we are going to move them, and we don’t need a referendum. And, there’s some that might be needed to be put to the people for a decision.

“It’s go time.” 

Earlier Wednesday, Smith directed her jobs minister to use “all legal means” possible to give Alberta more control over immigration.

In a new mandate letter given to minister Joseph Schow, Smith said Alberta needs to ensure the province sees sustainable levels of newcomers.

Licence changes 

That came after Smith announced earlier this week that her government plans to introduce legislation requiring driver’s licences and other forms of identification to include citizenship markers, in an effort to streamline access to services and prevent election fraud.

The announcement prompted the province’s information and privacy commissioner to express concern.

Diane McLeod said that citizenship can be sensitive information, so the government would need to demonstrate how any benefit of including it on a driver’s licence would outweigh the associated privacy risks.

“It is unclear from the government announcement as to what purpose the inclusion of this information on Albertans’ driver’s licences will serve. It’s also unclear what the benefit for Albertans would be,” McLeod said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Smith and her government are touting efforts to combat youth unemployment, including an annual $8 million program helping employers hire.

The crowd in Grande Prairie overwhelmingly approved of the province moving to batten down the hatches on immigration. Housing, education, and employment opportunities are being squeezed by out-of-control immigration numbers, the premier and many in the crowd argued.

Throughout its summer town hall tour around the province, the panel has often been cheered on for its proposals, while drawing criticism; the initiative is seen as cynical wedge politics.

Pipelines and pensions

Fewer than a dozen attendees pushed back against Alberta creating its own pension plan in a straw poll.

The Canada Pension Plan withdrawal has long been pushed as a power move by some in the province, but it hasn’t been supported by a majority of Albertans in public opinion polls.

One woman expressed fear of political interests trumping good pension management.

One man questioned why Alberta should send tax revenue to the federal government at all.

The panel has at times given fodder to separatists who argue that its policy ideas only bolster their case for abandoning Confederation, and Grande Prairie’s event was no exception.

Several said they supported the proposals, but Alberta won’t get a fair deal as long as it remains only a province.

Others demanded Smith draw a firm line in the sand with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government.

They said they were skeptical the province’s rocky relationship with the federal government might actually turn a page, despite the premier’s recent comments that she’s encouraged by her conversations with Carney.

The panel will host a final in-person town hall in Calgary at the end of the month.