Looking relaxed and confident, Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi ripped into Premier Danielle Smith’s flirtation with separatism yesterday at the Opposition party’s annual convention.
“Alberta’s New Democrats will always, always, always stand with the millions and millions of Canadians who believe in a stronger, more unified country,” he told the more than 1,000 party members at the Edmonton Convention Centre yesterday morning in a speech frequently punctuated by cheers.
“That’s the Canadian promise, and we will not allow premier Smith to break that promise,” Mr. Nenshi said.
He asked the delegates: “Is Danielle Smith a separatist?”
A thousand voices responded, “Yes!”
“Should Alberta leave Canada?”
The crowd roared, “No!”
“No more dividing Albertans from each other to score political points,” Mr. Nenshi declared. “No more dragging Alberta away from the rest of the country to feed extremist fringe agendas,” he continued, each point punctuated by cheers.
“No more playing stupid separatist games with the future of our province! No more disrespecting Indigenous communities! No more disrespecting Albertans!”
Meanwhile, down the street at the Legislature Building, a crowd of about 500 folk by the look of the photos on social media gathered at roughly the same time to decry Confederation and demand an independent landlocked petrostate. Unsurprisingly, claims that crowd was bigger were circulated by organizers, through whether or not they were including the counter-protesters who also showed up is not clear.
Be that as it may, back at the Convention Centre, Mr. Nenshi threw down the gauntlet, challenging the premier to put up or shut up.
“So to premier Smith, I’m talking to you directly now, stop playing games,” he said. “You have two choices: denounce separatism once and for all, and do it today, or let Albertans decide.”
“You want a referendum? Stop playing us for fools. Stop pretending that this is just an initiative process and you’re just standing around watching.” (This observation provoked prolonged laughter, in response to Premier Smith’s oft-repeated claim she’s not asking for a referendum while changing legislation to make it easier for citizens to petition for a separation vote.) “We’re smarter than that.”
“I’m going to say this very, very clearly to Premier Smith,” Mr. Nenshi said. “You want a referendum? Give us the referendum now!”
“I will be damned if I if we ever, ever let Danielle Smith tear the country down,” Mr. Nenshi also said. “Canada is worth fighting for.”
He later reiterated the same point in a scrum with journalists after the results of party members’ ratification vote showing 89.5-per-cent of the delegates continue to support his leadership had been calculated.
“The premier treats Albertans with contempt,” he told the reporters. “She takes us all for fools. She thinks that we’ll fall for the most obvious lies. And I believe that Albertans are so much smarter than that, they’re so much better than that, and they’re able to cut through all that disingenuity.”
“I say to Danielle Smith, quit playing games. You want a referendum. Stop pretending it’s citizens who want a referendum. Stop pretending you’re not the one behind all of this. Call the referendum, call it now, and when you get the defeat, the thumping defeat that you resoundingly deserve, stop playing games with the future of our country.”
This and similar remarks by Mr. Nenshi about the United Conservative Party’s continuing Corrupt Care Scandal, which the government appears unable to contain, and its mismanagement of the economy set a sharper tone from the NDP leader, who has been criticized for being too passive, disengaged and professorial since being chosen by members as party leader last June.
He spoke for more than an hour, but seemed to hold the attention of delegates throughout. It still remains to be seen, though, if his long-form approach to rhetoric will work as well with voters who are not party activists as do the three- or four-word slogans favoured by conservative parties like the UCP.
Also at yesterday’s session of the three-day convention, which adjourns today, delegates accepted a compromise constitutional change that would allow new party members to opt-out of membership in the federal NDP by clicking an online button indicating they only want to support the provincial party.
Much was made of this by mainstream media for some reason, even though it’s unlikely to stop the UCP from pretending the Alberta NDP takes orders from the federal NDP leader in Ottawa, whoever that turns out to be, or end the sharing of election campaign expertise as happens with all political parties’ federal and provincial branches.
Mr. Nenshi’s pivot toward sharper and more specific criticism of the government seems like a more significant development than mere constitutional inside baseball, especially now that the NDP’s leaders have figured out that nothing good is likely to come from a public fight.