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A pro-independence group is set to hold a rally at the Alberta legislature building in Edmonton Saturday afternoon, less than 48 hours before referendum day.
Let Alberta Decide has scheduled the event for 3 p.m. MT, lining up 10 speakers, including Keith Wilson, a lawyer who co-chairs the organization and heads the Alberta Transition Council, which has formed a plan should the province secede from Canada.
People from across the province will be attending. According to the group’s website, 10 buses have been rented to transport, for a round-trip fee, people who live outside of the capital city. Two each from Calgary and Leduc, Alta., have sold out.
The Edmonton Police Service issued a traffic advisory Saturday morning, saying the demonstration could affect traffic in the city’s core and around the legislative grounds. It advises motorists about potential delays in that area and to consider taking alternate routes.
The scheduled rally is just one of several that have happened, or are planned, over the final days before Monday’s provincewide referendum, which will feature 10 questions.
The most notable question asks Albertans whether they want the province to remain in Confederation, or if they want the provincial government to start the legal process to hold a binding secession referendum.
According to Elections Alberta, hundreds of thousands of Albertans have already cast their ballots via mail or advance polls, which close at 8 p.m. Saturday.
On Monday, voting locations are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. If there are any lineups, stations will stay open longer to allow people to finish voting.
Polling has consistently suggested that most Albertans want to stay in Canada. But according to Elections Alberta, a significant number of Albertans back the independence movement: it verified almost 222,600 signatures for the Stay Free Alberta citizen initiative petition, headed by Mitch Sylvestre, leader of the Alberta Prosperity Project.
In late August, hundreds of people gathered at the legislature for another pro-separation rally.