Prime Minister Mark Carney wrapped up his two-day, pro-Canada barnstorming tour of Alberta by rallying with thousands of supporters in his hometown on Friday night.
“Alberta’s my home,” Carney said as thousands erupted in cheers in a party-like atmosphere at Edmonton’s Expo Centre.
“I grew up here,” said Carney.
“This city, this province, this country, have given me everything — my family, my education and my values.”
Supporters were dressed in all manner of Maple Leaf gear. They jammed bleachers, danced, waved Canadian flags and cheered a song stipulating Canada will never be the 51st U.S. state.
The prime minister implored Albertans to vote to keep the province in Canada. “There are some outside our borders who are working to break us so they can own us. Never,” he said.
“A vote against Canada is a dangerous bluff that will lead to years of deep uncertainty and lost opportunities for Albertans and Canadians.
“Our country and your futures are too precious to play games with.”
There was also dissent. One person shouted at Carney as he talked about Canadians serving in the military. “Please,” said Carney, “(show) some respect for our men and women in service.”
Carney has been meeting with Canadians for two days in Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary, posing for selfies, shaking hands and spreading the message to keep the country whole.
He made a similar rally speech to thousands a day earlier in Calgary.
On Monday, Albertans will vote on whether to stay in Canada or hold a second, binding referendum on quitting Confederation.
Earlier Friday, Carney was at a brewery in Red Deer, halfway between Edmonton and Calgary, with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. The two tapped a keg, had a beer, sang O Canada and made a last-ditch pitch for the province to stay in Confederation.
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It was a Maple Leaf love affair. About 50 people squeezed in and jockeyed for position inside Red Hart Brewing. They wore Canada shirts, hats, sweaters, jerseys and pins. There were mayors, members of Parliament and former Alberta premier Ed Stelmach.
Outside, there were another 100 supporters. Across the street, a lone protester with an Alberta flag strode back and forth.
Smith and Carney praised each other as sharp-eyed, flinty negotiators who fight for their positions but want the best for Canada. They said they’re making progress, including with a proposed fast-tracked oil pipeline from Alberta to the B.C. coast.
“For the first time in a long time, Alberta and Canada are walking together,” Smith said.
They are, however, agreeing to disagree when it comes to the rest of Smith’s referendum. The leaving-Canada question is one of 10 on the ballot. Smith wants Albertans to endorse nine other proposals.
Those proposals urge her government to take more control and impose new rules surrounding immigration and to pursue constitutional changes that wrest power from Ottawa. Smith has said she needs that mandate to negotiate a better deal with Ottawa.
Carney is urging Albertans to reject the nine proposals. Smith said she’ll work to change his mind.
As the brewery crowd looked on, Smith handed Carney an explanatory booklet on the questions, adding, “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.”
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also made a last-minute pitch for unity Friday. In a speech in Calgary at the Canada Strong & Free Network, he said he understands separatist disillusionment with the state of affairs in Canada but said quitting isn’t the answer.
“Quitting is the easy way out — and Albertans are not quitters,” Poilievre said.
“We don’t just take our ball and go home. We don’t walk away. We stand and fight for what we believe in, and we reflect upon all that we have.”
He said he gets how people are unhappy with rising costs and what he characterized as a lax justice system, an out-of-control immigration program and federal policies that curtail resource development. But he urged Albertans to see the bigger picture.
“Canada is more than a government,” he said. “It is a people, a flag, a land, a history and a promise.”
Polls have suggested a strong majority of Albertans will vote to stay in Canada, but leaders stress that voter apathy could open the door to a winning vote for separation.
Albertans have been voting by mail and, for the past few days, at advance polls in numbers that suggest the final count could set a record. Elections Alberta said over one million had voted as of Thursday night.
Smith called the referendum earlier this year. She said bubbling discontent with past federal policies recently reached a boiling point with hundreds of thousands signing petitions for and against staying in Confederation. She said a referendum is needed to resolve the issue once and for all.
Critics, however, say Smith isn’t resolving a broad-based existential debate. Instead, they say, she has inflamed and validated latent fringe separatist sentiment, rolling the dice on the future of the country to appease hardliners in her United Conservative Party.
— with files from Dayne Patterson in Calgary and Catherine Morrison in Ottawa
© 2026 The Canadian Press
