Alberta premier to give ‘State of the Province’ address while Opposition launches anti-separation campaign

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will give a state of the province address in Calgary Thursday.

The event is being hosted by the Rotary Club of Calgary at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel in the city’s downtown.

While the explicit subject matter of her speech is not known, there is no shortage of potential topics for Smith to cover: oil prices and Alberta’s economy in the wake of the war in the Middle East, a fall referendum, ongoing citizen-led petitions, healthcare, the cost of living, dueling efforts on Alberta separation, and more.

Smith’s address comes a day after new data from the Angus Reid Institute found half of Albertans believe the province is headed in the wrong direction. Despite this, Alberta residents giver the provincial government higher marks than most other Canadians give their own governments.

NDP launching ‘pro-Canada’ effort

Also happening Thursday in Calgary is the launch of the new ‘pro-Canada’ campaign by the Alberta NDP.

Details are few, but the party says the effort will “will help mobilize Albertans who wish to fight back against the separatist movement, to take action, and stand up for Canada.”

The campaign is being launched ahead of a likely referendum in October, the NDP adds.

Although a referendum is scheduled for Oct. 19, a question on separation hasn’t officially been put on the ballot.

Last week, Stay Free Alberta, which is collecting signatures calling for a vote on Alberta leaving Canada, said its effort had collected the required number of signatures ahead of a May 2 deadline.

A petition on the opposite side of the issue, Forever Canadian led by Thomas Lukaszuk, successfully gathered its required number of signatures in December. Nearly 405,000 of the 439,000 were verified by Elections Alberta, well above the required 294,000.

The NDP has argued for months that the premier and the UCP are “harbouring separatists,” a matter that intensified after Red Deer-South MLA Jason Stephan, in a column in the media outlet Western Standard, pushed for Albertans to sign a petition calling for a referendum on separatism.

Smith has long expressed a desire for “an independent Alberta within a united Canada.”