{"id":104994,"date":"2026-05-22T08:33:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T12:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=104994"},"modified":"2026-05-22T08:33:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T12:33:59","slug":"referendum-on-a-referendum-albertans-to-vote-on-putting-separation-on-another-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/referendum-on-a-referendum-albertans-to-vote-on-putting-separation-on-another-ballot\/","title":{"rendered":"Referendum on a referendum: Albertans to vote on putting separation on another ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Lisa Johnson and Jack Farrell Premier Danielle Smith says Albertans will be going to the polls in October to cast their vote on separation \u2013 but they won\u2019t actually be voting on whether to separate. Instead, they\u2019ll be choosing whether or not it\u2019s time to hold a binding referendum on quitting Canada. Smith made the announcement in a televised address Thursday night, saying it&#8217;s the best solution to fight for the country while giving a justifiable voice to those who no longer feel that Canada works for them. \u201cKicking the can down the road only prolongs a very emotional and important debate,\u201d Smith said in the pre-recorded speech. \u201cMuzzling the voices of hundreds of thousands of Albertans wanting to be heard is unjustifiable in a free and democratic society&#8230;. <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F05%2F22%2Freferendum-on-a-referendum-albertans-to-vote-on-putting-separation-on-another-ballot%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Lisa Johnson and Jack Farrell Premier Danielle Smith says Albertans will be going to the polls in October to cast their vote on separation \u2013 but they won\u2019t actually be voting on whether to separate. Instead, they\u2019ll be choosing whether or not it\u2019s time to hold a binding referendum on quitting Canada. Smith made the announcement in a televised address Thursday night, saying it&#8217;s the best solution to fight for the country while giving a justifiable voice to those who no longer feel that Canada works for them. \u201cKicking the can down the road only prolongs a very emotional and important debate,\u201d Smith said in the pre-recorded speech. \u201cMuzzling the voices of hundreds of thousands of Albertans wanting to be heard is unjustifiable in a free and democratic society.... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F05%2F22%2Freferendum-on-a-referendum-albertans-to-vote-on-putting-separation-on-another-ballot%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Referendum on a referendum: Albertans to vote on putting separation on another ballot - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/referendum-on-a-referendum-albertans-to-vote-on-putting-separation-on-another-ballot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Referendum on a referendum: Albertans to vote on putting separation on another ballot - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lisa Johnson and Jack Farrell Premier Danielle Smith says Albertans will be going to the polls in October to cast their vote on separation \u2013 but they won\u2019t actually be voting on whether to separate. Instead, they\u2019ll be choosing whether or not it\u2019s time to hold a binding referendum on quitting Canada. Smith made the announcement in a televised address Thursday night, saying it&#8217;s the best solution to fight for the country while giving a justifiable voice to those who no longer feel that Canada works for them. \u201cKicking the can down the road only prolongs a very emotional and important debate,\u201d Smith said in the pre-recorded speech. \u201cMuzzling the voices of hundreds of thousands of Albertans wanting to be heard is unjustifiable in a free and democratic society.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/referendum-on-a-referendum-albertans-to-vote-on-putting-separation-on-another-ballot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-22T12:33:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/22\\\/referendum-on-a-referendum-albertans-to-vote-on-putting-separation-on-another-ballot\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/22\\\/referendum-on-a-referendum-albertans-to-vote-on-putting-separation-on-another-ballot\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Referendum on a referendum: Albertans to vote on putting separation on another ballot\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T12:33:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/22\\\/referendum-on-a-referendum-albertans-to-vote-on-putting-separation-on-another-ballot\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":953,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/22\\\/referendum-on-a-referendum-albertans-to-vote-on-putting-separation-on-another-ballot\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/22\\\/referendum-on-a-referendum-albertans-to-vote-on-putting-separation-on-another-ballot\\\/\",\"name\":\"Referendum on a referendum: Albertans to vote on putting separation on another ballot - 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