Innisfail-Sylvan Lake MLA Devin Dreeshen weighs in on referendum vote on separation

When it came to the question of separation, over 1.5 million Albertans voted to remain in Canada while 519,235 voted to send the question to a binding referendum.

In the Innisfail-Sylvan Lake electoral district, 15,141 voted to remain, and 11,447 voted for the latter.

“To me, it was great that Albertans got to have their say on where they see things and see Alberta in Confederation,” Dreeshen added.

“I think there was always a mix of people that would vote to have a referendum. I think lots of people were wanting to send Ottawa a message about the last 10 years of the Trudeau Liberal government and the attack it seemed on Albertans and our livelihood, especially the oil and gas sector.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney appeared in Alberta a number of times in the months leading up to the referendum.

Dreeshen said Carney was in his riding two times over the last few months.

When asked if he believes Carney will continue to serve Alberta post-referendum, Dreeshen said it’s been a big change from the decade of Trudeau and the former federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault.

“[They] were introducing rules like the so-called clean electricity regulations that stopped any new natural gas power plants being created here in the province,” he said, adding they were also behind the Impact Assessment Act. “We have seen the undoing of a lot of those bad changes and bad laws that were really a disadvantage to Alberta.”

He gave credit to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for helping the federal government “see the light” and help Alberta.

“There’s still a long way to go,” he said. “We are still advocating for the tanker ban to be lifted off the Port of Prince Rupert because we don’t have a tanker ban in Vancouver or Alaska, but there still is this lasting Liberal issue of the tanker ban in the Port of Prince Rupert… Everybody dubs it Alberta’s port. We have a tremendous amount of resources and products going in and out of that port.”

A week ago, the Premier stated that UCP members can have any views they wish but that she would respectfully invite those who want to actively stir up separatist sentiment “to join a different party.”

When asked if he agreed with the statement, Dreeshen said the UCP is a party that listens to its membership.

“As a politician, you have to make sure that in your political party you listen to your membership, but you also have to make decisions. I think that’s something that, as the leader of our party, Danielle Smith I think she’s doing a great job in advocating for the province,” Dreeshen said.

Dreeshen said the referendum vote on separation was divisive, with family members, friends, and coworkers disagreeing passionately.

He said despite that, there are many initiatives and projects the provincial government is bringing forward that can unite Albertans.

“There’s a whole bunch of things that we can do as a province to unite Albertans, and I think people are going to see a lot of that in the coming weeks and months ahead.”

-With Files from The Canadian Press

by Ian Gustafson

Innisfail-Sylvan Lake MLA Devin Dreeshen weighs in on referendum vote on separation

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