Immigration referendum questions a ‘distraction’ from Alberta’s social services problems: former premier

Rachel Notley, Alberta’s former NDP leader and premier, discusses why she helped create an op-ed about the five immigration questions on the fall ballot.

Former Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says voters should be wary of a divided province not just on the topic of separation, but over “mean-spirited” and “discriminatory” immigration questions in the fall.

An Oct. 19 referendum will ask Albertans 10 questions, five of which pertain to immigrant rights in the province.

Notley, who served as Alberta’s NDP leader and premier from 2015-2019, told CTV News each of the nine questions unrelated to separation are a “distraction” from key issues: U.S. tariffs, affordability and health care, to name a few.

“I’d like to see them eliminated,” she said of the questions on Thursday. “None of the nine questions that appear on that referendum were sought after by citizens of Alberta.”

On Oct. 19, the provincial government will ask, in part:

• if it should be given more control over immigration for the purpose of decreasing it and prioritizing economic migration,
• if only Canadian citizens or those with approved immigration status should be eligible for provincially funded services like health care or education,
• if those with non-permanent legal immigration status should be required to live in Alberta for at least a year before qualifying for social support programs,
• if non-permanent immigrants should be charged a fee for accessing health-care and education systems; and
• if proof of citizenship should be required to vote in provincial elections.

When the questions were first announced, Smith said immigration levels had become “out of control” and flooded classrooms, emergency rooms and other social support systems.

“Alberta taxpayers can no longer be asked to continue to subsidize the entire country through equalization and federal transfers, permit the federal government to flood our borders with new arrivals, and then give free access to our most-generous-in-the-country social programs to anyone who moves here,” she said in February.

While a recent poll obtained by CTV News finds that a majority of voters would likely support many of the five questions in the fall, critics, like Notley, have called the questions out as distractions to UCP government mismanagement.

• How many immigrants are actually coming to Alberta, and what benefits are they entitled to?

This week, Notley joined seven other prominent political figures to publish an op-ed condemning the questions and encouraging Albertans to reject them all.

“Four questions seek to treat some immigrants differently, limiting or withholding their access – or appallingly, their children’s access – to education, health care and other social supports,” the piece reads in part.

“These questions are framed as fiscal measures, as if human beings are nothing but the cost of the services they use. As elected leaders, we all took oaths to serve and respect everyone who lives here, even our guests.”

She also pointed to former UCP Leader and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Smith previously being large proponents of a campaign that encouraged a heavy interprovincial migration boom.

“There is no question that there are issues that have been long-standing matters of concern from all provinces … The funding supports for their settlement don’t necessarily follow them to the new province where they reside. That’s a legitimate issue that needs to be worked out.”

But Notley doesn’t think Smith is the one to work it out.

“(These questions are) driven by the premier’s very self-interested attempt to maintain leadership of an increasingly extremist political party,” she said.

“This is part of a dog-whistle campaign that she is forcing all of Albertans to participate in solely to protect her own leadership bona fides.”

Notley and Kenney have also joined forces to address the ballot that asks if the province should stay part of Canada, or hold a separate, binding referendum on seceding.

The unlikely duo bridge the political aisle in the wake of an ongoing U.S.-Canada trade war and incoming tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods.

Albertans head to the polls Oct. 19. Many are waiting to fill out mail-in ballots as Elections Alberta works to hire enough support for a massive, 10-ballot, provincewide vote.

With files from CTV News National