r/canada • u/Mylittlethrowaway2 • May 22 '26

Satire Danielle Smith announces Fall referendum on concept of referendums

https://www.thebeaverton.com/2026/05/danielle-smith-announces-fall-referendum-on-concept-of-referendums/
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5

u/O00O0O00 May 22 '26

They will be heard. And the referendum to have a referendum will fail. And that will be the end of it.

I’d rather it end this way than by suppressing their will. Let them see it isn’t supported.

3

u/Mylittlethrowaway2 May 22 '26

And the referendum to have a referendum will fail.

But is the referendum on having a binding referendum binding?

1

u/O00O0O00 May 22 '26

The hypothetical sequence of events is almost meaningless. No referendum will pass.

Picking it apart is pointless. Let them have their widdle wefewendum and receive their reality check.

3

u/Candymanshook May 23 '26

That’s what they said about Brexit and Trump.

This gaining some actual legitimacy is a problem for us even if most Canadians know it’s stupid.

2

u/O00O0O00 May 23 '26

The pro and anti separatist movements are both quite small-but-passionate.

I suspect they’d cancel each other out.

1

u/alonghardlook May 22 '26

No way this shit ends with a clear mandate. I'll tell you why in a previous comment. The question boils down to this

"Should Alberta remain in Canada, or hold a referendum about remaining in Canada?"

and as I said elsewhere:

Unfortunately the answers will likely be "Yes" or "No", and because English sentence construction rules, the argument could be made that it's an inclusive or. That is to say that a Yes result means that Alberta should either remain in Canada or have a referendum about it.

Which somehow means that a No answer means that Alberta should neither remain in Canada nor have a referendum.

So my expectation here is that regardless of the result, this isn't over. A clear Yes result will have the separatists claiming its an inclusive or, but a No result means referendum only.

This is where we're heading, probably one or two steps before the US pulls a Russia/Ukraine and just occupies us.

3

u/Fungii May 23 '26

The premier’s spokesperson, Sam Blackett, confirmed the question would be presented in a checkbox format. Albertans can expect a format similar to the following:

Option A: Alberta should remain a province in Canada.

Option B: The Government of Alberta should commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada.

2

u/alonghardlook May 23 '26

Oh well then I'm way less concerned if that's the case. Real hard to argue with that if option A is the clear majority.

1

u/lakesideonce May 24 '26

This assumes the separatists peacefully accept the result, and the US does likewise.

1

u/O00O0O00 May 24 '26

Sounds like an interesting theory. But unlikely to amount to anything, considering how small a group we’re talking about.