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Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney says the governing United Conservative Party caucus has “no business” signing a petition to force a vote on the province quitting Canada.
Kenney, in an interview Monday, said the party he helped create in 2017 and lead until 2022, was founded with the principle that it’s committed to a strong Alberta within a united Canada.
“If you’ve run on a platform, let’s say in the 2019 and the last Alberta election — twice under the UCP banner — you have been running as someone who believes in a united Canada,” Kenney said.
“If that’s how you were elected, you have no business signing a petition to separate the country and I sure hope that’s not the case.”
The former premier’s comments come after a leader of the petition campaign to force a vote to leave Canada claimed members of Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative caucus have signed their names.
Jeff Rath, a lawyer for the petition group, said last week that provincial privacy rules governing the petition process meant he couldn’t disclose names.
Asked about the claim, Smith said in an interview with CTV over the weekend that her UCP caucus members “can sign whatever petition that they want.”
“I don’t police the responses of my MLAs,” she said.
When asked why she wouldn’t tell her caucus members not to sign, the premier called it a “hypothetical situation,” since she wasn’t aware of any caucus members signing in the first place.
“As soon as you tell me which caucus members have signed, then we can have a conversation,” Smith said.
She also said she thought her caucus was united in supporting “a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.”
“That means federal government respects our areas of jurisdiction just as we respect their areas of jurisdiction. I think we’re moving in the right direction on that, but not completely.”
More than 20 UCP backbenchers did not respond to emailed questions about whether they had signed, but a spokesperson for the caucus said in a statement Monday that the government is clear in its support for “a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.”
“MLAs are free to express their personal views on any matter they choose. However, we are not aware of any MLAs signing this petition.”
Smith’s office referred to the caucus statement when asked for comment Monday.
WATCH | Separatist group collects petition signatures in Calgary:
Separatist group collects petition signatures in Calgary
The independence group Stay Free Alberta was collecting signatures at the Big Four Roadhouse on Monday. The petition is calling for a referendum on separating from Canada. The group has about four months to gather close to 178,000 signatures.
Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi has criticized Smith for not taking a stricter stance on separation and on her caucus for some allegedly getting on board with the separation referendum.
Nenshi told reporters Monday that any UCP legislature members who signed owed it to their constituents to identify themselves.
“These are not people who ran saying, ‘I’m an Alberta separatist,”‘ Nenshi said.
“They are people who’ve sworn an oath to be a member of the legislative assembly, and yet they won’t say who they are.”
Kenney wouldn’t comment further on the possibility that members of Smith’s caucus had signed, but said he was incensed that Rath and others in the movement have had meetings with U.S. officials about the possibility of Alberta striking out on its own.
“If these folks really hate Canada and they really adore the United States and [President] Donald Trump, then there’s a border crossing or two that they can take tomorrow,” Kenney said.
“Claim asylum in the United States. Deal with ICE and get the hell out of our country if you are going to undermine us and [are] working with foreign powers to do so.”
Kenney also said it’s “outrageous” that the White House would agree to meet with private unelected citizens from a foreign country to discuss the “dismemberment” of Canada.
“It is underhanded. It is an insult to Canada and its sovereignty,” Kenney said, drawing a parallel with Texas.
“Could you imagine the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa taking meetings with ordinary citizens advocating restoring the independence of the Lone Star state?”
“It’s absurd, and so I hope that the Carney government is sending some strong, direct messages to the White House that if the Trump administration decides to actively step into this separatism project there will be a very real price to pay, very real sanctions.”
Kenney said at any normal time Canada would recall its ambassador from Washington for consultations and bring in the American ambassador to Ottawa for a formal diplomatic protest.
“Nothing is normal in Trump world. The outrages continue.”