Carney says Albertans should vote ‘No to the Nine’ in referendum

Carney says Albertans should vote ‘No to the Nine’ in referendum

Prominent campaign has urged residents to reject immigration, constitutional questions

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Albertans should vote against the nine referendum questions focused on immigration and constitutional reform as he visited Calgary on Thursday.

“I just wanted to come here, thank you for what you’ve already done, thank you what you’re going to do in the next few days,” Carney told the crowd in the city's northeast.

“Make sure everyone’s out there marking their ballots ... including, ‘No to the Nine.’”

“No to the Nine” is a prominent federalist advertising campaign that urges Albertans to reject the nine ballot questions on Oct. 19, in addition to voting to remain in Canada.

Who else besides Danielle Smith is saying 'yes to the nine' in Alberta's referendum?

Carney was meeting with volunteers and others at Bridgeland Riverside Community Association Park in Calgary.

Earlier, he appeared to discuss the campaign with a person holding a sign tied to a campaign from Public Interest Alberta, an education advocacy group.

“‘No on the Nine’ … that’s good,” Carney said.

Carney says 'No to the 9' while campaigning for Canadian unity in Calgary

The prime minister has previously spoken out on the separatism question. In a Thanksgiving message delivered from a classroom in Edmonton, Carney highlighted various federal initiatives, such as the Pacific Link pipeline.

“We can't achieve any of this if we're divided. You can't build big things on fault lines,” Carney said.

Carney is scheduled to join former Alberta deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk at a rally for his "Forever Canadian" group later today, while Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre is expected to deliver a pro-unity message at the Canada Strong and Free Network conference in Calgary on Friday.

Carney is also expected to attend a rally on Friday at a Red Deer brewery with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, as well as make a stop in Edmonton the same day.

Carney, Poilievre bring federalist push to Alberta ahead of referendum vote

Everything you need to know about the 10 questions in Alberta's Oct. 19 referendum

Volunteers at Bridgeland Riverside Community Association Park hold placards for Alberta's referendum during a visit by Prime Minister Mark Carney in Calgary on Oct. 15. (Ahmed Zakot/Reuters)

Smith, while saying she has voted to remain in Canada, has advocated for Albertans to vote yes on the other nine questions.

Speaking to CBC News’ chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault during a one-on-one interview in Calgary last week, Smith said the nine questions are those which she “wants a mandate” on.

“I haven’t been neutral on that,” Smith said. “I’ve been persuading people that this is what we need to do.”

Earlier this week, three former Alberta premiers urged voters to say “no” to the five immigration-related questions on the Oct. 19 referendum ballot.

CBC News has requested additional comment from the Prime Minister’s Office and a spokesperson for Smith.

Liberal MP says he's voting against questions

Liberal MP Corey Hogan, who represents a Calgary riding, spoke to the Calgary Eyeopener on Thursday about the nine other questions.

Hogan said he was voting “no” to the entire process.

“We should be asking ourselves, do we want to reward this kind of behaviour? And I don’t think that we should,” Hogan said.

“I don’t think that we should use our country as a bargaining chip … I think the questions are quite manipulative, they’re written in ways to get certain answers.”

Although he said he’d vote “no” to all nine questions as a sort of protest to the process, he was more open to ballot question seven, which involves abolishing the federal Senate.

“With all love to my senator colleagues, I love senators, I don’t love the Senate,” he said.

Joel is a reporter/editor with CBC Calgary. In fall 2021, he spent time with CBC's bureau in Lethbridge. He was previously the editor of the Airdrie City View and Rocky View Weekly newspapers. He hails from Swift Current, Sask. Reach him by email at joel.dryden@cbc.ca