Right.

But, but nonetheless, those nine questions on the referendum are, are being used, y- you might say being weaponized to get Alberta, uh, a stronger seat at the table when it comes to provincial federal relations.

The big question, question number 10, is what Albertans wanna do about the province's future in Canada, and the question, uh, it's not a simple one, but it's asking basically you wanna go with status quo, you want Alberta to continue in Canada li- as it has done since 1905, or do you want to put the wheels in motion, uh, to move toward a second referendum, a binding referendum which would lead toward Alberta separating? So this is being spun by p- ...

proponents of separation, of which I am not one, uh, as essentially a choice.

Are you a proud Albertan or are you a proud Canadian? And I'm here to remind people that you can be both at the same time, and that proud Albertans shouldn't be bullied, uh, into believing that they need to tear up their Canadian flags.

And so hence the hoodie.

Yeah

... uh, to do anything but announce a new pipeline.

Like, how did your province get to this point?

Yeah.

I, I mean, I will do my best to explain why I think it's happening, but I cannot give you a logical explanation why it makes sense, because it doesn't make sense.

Um, uh, I know you have an informed audience, but let me put the question, it's almost forty words, uh, in front of your audience.

Should Alberta remain a province of Canada, or should the government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada? Like, I'm sorry for losing a portion of your audience as I meandered my way through the question, but that's kind of the point, isn't it? And we're hearing from people that are saying, "Well, hang on, like, is it yes or is it no? You know, if I wanna stay, how do I answer this? Uh, eh, what, what if I think that Alberta should remain a province of Canada and that there should be a referendum to prove it?" There's not an option there.

It's a multiple-choice question.

It's confusing.

Does she have a point?

So even if you take the separation question aside, look at things like an immigration question or a Senate composition question, if the vote happens but the outcome of the vote doesn't equal what the reality is or the changes that are being asked to be made, does that set things up for more frustration?

Well, and, and here's the thing, too, is that of the nine questions that have been confirmed, so now the 10 questions, right, with, with the premier's announcement last night, like you touched on, there's a, there's a whole bunch of questions on, on, you know, immigration of course, and then the constitutional questions, right, where we're gonna be asking about, uh, appointing judges.

Uh, they're gonna be asking questions a- about, you know, abolishing the, you know, as the government's describing it, the unelected federal Senate.

Um, you know, opting out of programs on healthcare, education, social services.

Like, a lot of this just simply isn't doable, right? Like, the, the provincial government doesn't have the power to unilaterally decide that it's gonna be appointing its own provincial judges, uh, judges appointed to the provincial King's Bench and appeal courts.

Uh, the province of Alberta has no power, uh, really, to work to abolish the unelected federal Senate.

Now, i- it's asking, you know, the question on there, on that front, um, you know, do w- "Do you support the government of Alberta working with the governments of other willing provinces?"

Yeah.