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There is so much discussion happening right now about the Alberta independence referendum and the question itself, with countless current and former elected officials weighing in. But honestly, I do not really care what they have to say. I care what the people have to say. That is the entire point of a referendum and the Citizens Initiative Act, to give a voice directly to the people.

Current and former elected officials have already had, or still have, the opportunity to make decisions on behalf of Albertans. The people only have their voices. So when politicians spend their time trying to drown out those voices, I lose interest in what they have to say. I do not want politicians telling me what to think or what to do. They are public servants, and their responsibility is to listen to the people. If they are not listening to the people, then who exactly are they listening to?

And for those saying that Quebec’s political parties ran on separation, let me remind you of the very purpose of the Citizen Initiative Act.

In Alberta, the government itself enacted the Citizen Initiative Act specifically to give citizens a voice and provide direction to government. More than 700,000 Albertans signed in support of holding a referendum on independence, giving the government a clear democratic mandate to address the issue using the tool the government created!

Yesterday’s announcement effectively sets all of those efforts aside and places the issue back in the hands of the government and the courts, despite citizens having already engaged in the democratic process the government itself created.

The government cannot have it both ways: create and encourage citizens to use a democratic process, and then refuse to honour the results when citizens actually participate.

Conduct like this is precisely what causes people to lose trust in public institutions and in the democratic process itself. I personally want to hear more from citizens, and I would encourage more referendums, not less. That is how we should be moving forward — not backward.
https://x.com/echipiuk/status/2057920179032453488