A campaign urging Albertans to stay in Canada made a stop in Stettler on July 31, ahead of the upcoming vote on the province’s future on October 19.
Thomas Lukaszuk, of the Forever Canadian movement spoke to a crowd of roughly 50 people gathered near the train station and P&H elevator in Stettler.
The stop was part of the group’s “Unity Tour” to distribute lawn signs and pins to unity supporters after the organization gathered 404,293 verified signatures according to Elections Alberta.
Lukaszuk, a former deputy Premier of Alberta, noted the movement is bringing together supporters from across the political spectrum who share concerns over the potential economic fallout of separation.
The event also drew a few local separatists, who were told by train station representatives to gather across the street.
Todd Schritter said he came to the event to challenge unity supporters on federal Liberal policies, immigration rates, and free-speech legislation.
“Why are we allowing someplace 4,000 kilometres away to dictate a totally different culture and a total set of different resources?” Schritter said.
“It’s not fair that Canada is a huge landmass… I want the people that are inside my Alberta borders to be making common-sense laws.”
Schritter argued that the momentum behind the October 19 referendum stems from Ottawa’s failure to act after 61 percent of Albertans voted to remove equalization from the constitution in 2021.
When asked about other grievances that have led to the independence movement, he raised concerns over federal immigration levels since the pandemic.
“We’re not against immigration. We’re for responsible immigration,” Schritter said. “You can’t have both. You can’t stifle our resources and flood us with people so that we can’t take care of them at the same time.”
For his part, Lukaszuk acknowledged that Western alienation is rooted in real issues, including an outdated equalization formula crafted two decades ago and unequal Senate representation.
However, he cautioned against opening the Constitution without clear strategies, and warned that disinformation is fuelling dangerous political divisions.
“There are people who are benefiting from spreading this anger, and unfortunately, it’s causing great division in our province,” Lukaszuk said. “We simply cannot allow a small segment of the population, many of them disinformed, to hijack this province.”
Despite sharp differences in opinion, discussions between Lukaszuk and independence demonstrators remained civil before organizers moved on to scheduled afternoon stops in Big Valley and Drumheller.
Author: Landin Chambers
Landin Chambers is a news reporter for Hometown Media Stettler. He has a background in broadcast news, with previous roles in Prince George, Red Deer and Calgary. You may also see him as a cameraman for the Stettler Wildcats and Stettler Imperials. Have a story idea? Email: lchambers@htproductionsmedia.ca
