Danielle Smith's rhetoric 'more about preserving her own position': Forever Canadian spokesperson

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]There is another player in this whole debate. Thomas Lucassic is the former deputy premier of Alberta and currently the head of the pro Canada group Forever Canadian. He joins me right now. Hi Mr. Lucas. Welcome back to Power Player.

[00:00:14]>> Thank you for having me.

[00:00:15]>> In the last week you said that Premier Smith has been changing the rules as she goes. So I wanted to get your take on the question that she wants to put to Albertans now.

[00:00:25]Well, you know, the the premier has been paving the way through overriding court decisions and changing the rules through through law and regulations on on many occasions over the last year to pave the way for separatists. Uh but now she posed a question um to make separatists hopeful that they have a chance uh but not really committing herself to anything. So it's it's more about preserving her own position as leader of the United Conservative Party and staying a premier than about anything.

[00:00:53]But other than the fact that in the meantime uh we are really destroying Alberta's economy because this question of a referendum is hanging over us and if if if we don't win uh in a in a very decisive way on October 19 then there will be a prospect of another referendum two years down the road because premier just passed a brand new law in Alberta that you cannot have a binding referendum one year prior and one year post election. Um, so our economy simply cannot withstand this kind of a a pressure. Plus, this this whole process is so divisive among Albertans. You know, I've never seen Alberta as divided as it is right now. So, I'm hoping that through the Forever Canadian movement, we will get uh all proanadians uh in Alberta to sign up on forever-canadian.ca so that we can identify our support, get a massive voter turnout, and and put an end to this insanity. you know, this is the time to build our country. Alberta is getting some great concessions from Ottawa. Uh, Prime Minister Carney seems to want to show that that cooperative federalism can actually work. And here we are where we're looking for proponents of pipelines and investments in Alberta. Uh, we are hanging this this um big question mark of instability uh over investment in Alberta. At the same time, your petition did get 400,000 signatures, and I know uh you had said that the stated goal of that was essentially to put it to that committee, but are you confident now that this question will be asked of Albertans in October? Are you confident that you can get another 400,000 or even more than that to get out there and vote?

[00:02:30]>> Well, there there are there are 2.9 million eligible voters in Alberta and we need by far the majority of them. Uh we know for a fact that more than twothirds of Albertans uh want nothing to do with separatism. Uh so we will have to make sure that they come out.

[00:02:46]Now let let get this on record. The 456,000 Albertans that signed the Forever Canadian petition, they signed it because they wanted to avert a separatist referendum. Uh those are Canadians who are happy being in Canada.

[00:03:03]It doesn't mean status quo. Sure. You know, there are things that could be um amended, changed in our relationship with other provinces and with Ottawa, but by and large, everyone who signed the Forever Canadian petition is a proud Canadian and wants nothing to do with a with a referendum. So, what the premier has really done is made everybody equally unhappy. Uh separatists now have this hanging carrot that says to them, reelect me and one year after the next election, I will give you a binding referendum. to First Nations, she said, "I don't really care about your treaty rights. I will basically bypass the court decisions that force me um to have consultation." And to the vast majority of Albertans who want nothing to do with separatism, she's imposing a a referendum on us that unfortunately we will now have to campaign towards and and get a good voter turnout.

[00:03:54]>> The premier continues to say that she's on the side of keeping Canada together and Alberta inside Canada. Do you believe her? Well, you know, Premier says certain things and then she does something contrary to it. She didn't have to have a referendum. Majority of Albertans don't want a referendum. She's now joining the ranks of two previous premers in the history of Canada who posed a a referendum to tear our country apart. And those two premers are were Quebec premers. But um granted those premers were elected on the platform of separatism. So they had the mandate to have this referendum. uh the United Conservative government in Alberta nor the premier have a mandate to to even hoist this kind of a referendum. So if the premier really is a federalist, not a separatist, I'm asking why put this referendum forward in the first place.

[00:04:46]The fact of the matter is though that even though vast majority of Albertans are not separatists in the caucus and in the membership of the United Conservative Party, more than 50% are separatists. So she is feeling this pressure from within her party but not from Albertans in general.

[00:05:05]>> But with respect she says that her caucus will as she will continue to campaign to stay within Canada. Do you believe her?

[00:05:12]>> Well, I can tell you that neither the premier no nor one member of her caucus has signed the forever Canadian petition. They never collected any signatures. As a matter of fact, they worked really hard to make sure that forever Canadians don't get the signatures that they need. So, you know, actions speak louder than than words.

[00:05:30]And and and let's not forget the fact that the premier is adding nine additional questions to this referendum. All of them aimed at fighting with Ottawa from RCMP to electing judges to uh not providing healthcare and education services to immigrants, all within the realm of of competency of of federal government. So to to be saying that you are a unitarian premier while starting 10 different fights with Ottawa somehow doesn't reconcile.

[00:06:00]>> But do you think that she will continue and fulfill that promise as she was saying that she will be trying to make the case to Albertans that they should stay within Canada because she did sign thatou. Um yet at the same time as as you're pointing out she is putting this question here and I guess my question to you is do you admit that she's in a bit of a a situation here where if she doesn't call the question then that whole issue of alienation will continue to grow because those people will feel like they have not had their voices heard. Well, no, you you know, leadership is a difficult thing and sometimes you have to make decisions that may not be popular in your own party, but are for the benefit of the province and the country. As a matter of fact, I think Premier has been doing a great job um dialoguing with Prime Minister Carney and signing and and there is potential for many more announcements in the near future. that is the way to show that collaborative federalism works and that Alberta has a bright future within within Canada. Uh putting this referendum which only gaslights uh Albertans and pits Albertans against Albertans um is is no leadership. Um so you know I I don't put any stock in what the premier says. I will be watching what she does. But in the meantime, I know that we can only rely on ourselves and that's why the Forever Canadian movement will be coalesing all proanadian Albertans, making sure that we get the voter turnout.

[00:07:31]>> Last question for you. Do you think that Premier Smith's political future is also on the ballot here?

[00:07:37]>> 100%. Um, you know, separatists, even though I disagree uh with their petition on position on separatism, uh, the fact is that they worked just as hard as as our volunteers collecting their signatures and she promised them a binding constitutional referendum and they didn't get that either. So, they are quite upset. They're selling UCP memberships right now. They may be calling an emergency annual general meeting of that party. uh but they're definitely not satisfied with the premier's um leadership. So, and here lies the problem, you know, uh when when you're a leader, you have to pick sides.

[00:08:14]Um trying to satisfy both to remain in in the position of power um doesn't have a long runway and and looks like on this issue, the premier's runway is is coming to an end.

[00:08:26]>> Okay, we're going to have to leave it there. I have a feeling we're going to talk to you again, but we're just going to leave it there for right now. a former deputy premier of Alberta and head of the procanada group, Forever Canadian, Thomas Lucas. Thanks so much for joining us.