Carney, Smith Appear at Joint Pro-Canada Event Ahead of Alberta’s Referendum

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith joined a rally in Red Deer, Alta., to promote national unity ahead of Alberta’s Oct. 19 referendum.

Carney, who is joining various pro-Canada events in Alberta this week, opened the event by praising past and present elected officials at the event, including former Harper government cabinet minister Monte Solberg who helped organize the event, former Progressive Conservative Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas, and Red Deer Mayor Cindy Jefferies, among others.

“I have learned a lot from those individuals. From Monty [Solberg], I’ve learned importance of decency, dry sense of humor, and an inquisitiveness about ideas,” Carney said.

“Premier Stelmach … : Great Canadian, great Albertan, focused government, small cabinet, importance of rural Canada, rural Alberta, infrastructure, and one of the … true pioneers of interprovincial trade.”

When he got to Premier Smith, Carney said what he has taken from her is the importance of “tough collaboration.”

“In our time working together, the premier has consistently put the most difficult issues on the table, with the intention of finding a common way forward,” he said. “And one of the other lessons I take from that … is when we try to do more, we can do more.”

Carney and Smith have jointly announced a proposed Alberta-B.C. oil pipeline, the Pacific Link, whose regulatory approval process will be expedited through the Major Projects Office. The Carney government has also eased a series of federal policies that Alberta has said stand in the way of resource development in the province, while the Smith government has agreed to increase its industrial carbon tax and pair the proposed oil pipeline with a major carbon capture project.

For her part, Smith recognized the various elected officials, as well as past and present Liberal MPs, at the event, noting that it’s a “pretty exciting day” to join an event with Carney and “people who have a bunch of different backgrounds.”

“As you know, we don’t always agree on everything. We often disagree quite publicly on several things, but today we can all agree that on Question 10, that we are voting for Option one: To remain in Canada,” Smith said.

Smith noted that when she first met Carney, she was skeptical. “I put the same kind of proposal on the table about trying to address some of the bad laws as I had with his predecessor. I said, ‘We’re just looking for a compromise here,’ and he said, ‘Well, I don’t think I want a compromise. I think I want a win-win.’”

“That was the approach that he took into our negotiations and discussions, and I can tell you that’s exactly how I feel after 18 months,” Smith said.

However, Smith repeated her opposition to Carney’s stance on the non-separation-related questions on the Oct. 19 referendum. These other nine questions seek input on whether the province should pursue greater control on immigration and judicial appointments, and pursue constitutional changes such as abolishing the unelected Senate.

While in Alberta this week, Carney urged Albertans to vote “No” on those questions, saying, “we can have diversity in this province, so we take care of each other, and build together.”

Smith, who rebuked Carney for this position the previous day, said at the Oct. 16 event, “I have bad news for you, prime minister. All of the premiers are interested in talking about immigration and how we might be able to reform it.”

But she added that her point is that “it’s a conversation.”

“We we meet. We find areas where we can agree. We work together on areas that we can agree. I think we are stronger together,” she said.

Beside Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is also in Alberta this week to urge residents of the province to vote to stay in Canada.

While speaking at the Oct. 16 Red Deer event, Carney repeated some of his previous points about the world being a more “dangerous and divided” place, and that the country faces “real threats to our sovereignty,” while urging unity, and noting his government has taken initiatives to diversify trade.

One of the items he specifically pointed out while in Red Deer is canola export, which is one of the main products of that region in Alberta. Earlier this year, Carney reached a trade agreement with China to allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) into Canada annually at a reduced tariff rate of 6.1 percent, down from 100 percent, in exchange for China lowering its tariffs on Canadian canola seed from approximately 85 percent to 14.9 percent and suspending anti-discrimination tariffs on Canadian canola meal, peas, lobster, and crab through the end of 2026.

Smith said in 2025 that Beijing exploits divisions in Canada to achieve its objectives, pointing to how it targeted canola, a primarily Western-Canadian product, with tariffs, while demanding Ottawa remove its 100 percent tariffs on Chinese EVs, with the EV tariffs primarily benefiting auto-producing Ontario. Canada had imposed the levies on Chinese EVs in 2024 in lockstep with the United States.

After China imposed anti-dumping tariffs on Canadian canola in 2025, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe was among the most vocal urging Ottawa to drop its EV tariffs. This was opposed by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, whose province is a major auto producer.