Carney in Red Deer: Separatism a “dangerous bluff” at “a moment of unprecedented opportunity”

Red Deer Mayor Cindy Jefferies was there, as were several councillors, the mayors of Penhold and Sylvan Lake, former Red Deer mayor Ken Johnston, ‘Vote to Stay’ founder Monte Solberg, several business and non-profit leaders, and many more.

“This is a moment of unprecedented opportunity,” he told the crowd, most of whom appeared to be waiting to hear him speak before hitting the beer.

He cited the Pacific Link Pipeline, an expanded trade footprint that includes a product essential to this region in canola (which is up 80 per cent year-over-year, he noted), and added that “We are just getting started.”

He had a sly grin later when Alberta Premier Danielle Smith handed him a pamphlet explaining why Albertans should vote ‘yes’ on the referendum’s first nine questions. He stated his support for the ‘No to the 9’ crowd in Calgary on Thursday.

He also recalled a past comment from Premier Smith alluding to the need for ‘tough collaboration’ between the feds and the province.

Carney said it wasn’t an oxymoron, even if it may sound like one.

Then Carney sat down with rdnewsNOW and The Everything Red Deer Podcast for an exclusive interview that touched on the referendum, as well as beer, homelessness and mental health.

He was asked how Albertans can be reassured that this newly forged bond his government has with Alberta won’t be cast aside once the referendum is finally over.

“It’s a national approach, and the fancy term for it is cooperative federalism,” he said, noting, as an example, an enormous energy project in Manitoba that took the federal government’s cooperation to get shovels in the ground.

He also referenced the high-speed rail project connecting Calgary to Edmonton via Red Deer that recently took a significant step forward thanks to federal backing.

“We learn from each other, we build from each other, and move forward. We have to deliver for people… it is fundamental to building Canada strong.”

That applies to the current situation with Alberta, he implied.

Though polls seem to suggest the referendum is trending toward a landslide victory for the ‘stay’ side on question 10, the question must be asked: What if that’s not the way the cookie crumbles?

And what does Carney think about the notion that objections from Treaty First Nations should render the entire exercise moot?

“It is the law of the land and in the Constitution of this country that if a province were to separate, it needs to be on a clear question with a clear majority. That clear majority requires the support of Indigenous peoples. It’s distinct, not just a certain percentage, and that’s because of the historic nature of the treaties,” Carney explained.

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with The Everything Red Deer Podcast host and rdnewsNOW journalist Josh Hall in Red Deer on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026 (Image Credit: Prime Minister’s Office)

“Even if those [requirements] are fulfilled, there is a process of negotiation, which then has to be approved under the Constitution, by an amending formula that originated with Peter Lougheed, a great Alberta premier, in 1982. [That] means a clear majority of provinces, so seven provinces, and more than 50 per cent of the population, the majority of the House, a majority of the Senate, and the Indigenous support [are needed] to make the amendments.”

Carney calls the situation a “dangerous bluff,” because even a win on Oct. 19 to explore a binding referendum would mean, in his estimation, profound uncertainty, and potentially for years.

There would be impacts on investment, on where people want to work and live, and ultimately, he said, Albertan jobs and money, adding to the debt, slowing things down, and “diminishing Canada as a whole.”

Look no further than survey results released this week by the Alberta Medical Association, which suggest the province could lose half its physicians if separation were to occur.

More than 1,600 doctors were asked what they’d do, with 55 per cent saying they would move out of Alberta.

No matter the ways he sees this referendum, Carney does believe it’s a great show of democracy in action, adding that he’s encouraged by early advance polling numbers.

So come Tuesday, how do Albertans reconcile with the neighbours they used to call friends, yet have become sworn enemies over a generational debate on separation?

“It is fundamental to respect the views of others. People arrive at those viewpoints honestly. They have their values, they weigh them, and they come up with solutions. Referendums, particularly around issues of separation, have an element about identity,” continued Carney.

“Finding where there’s common ground so we can build together… the more that we are, as a country, working together with solutions and putting points on the boards with those solutions, the better people are going to feel, and obviously the better it’s going to be for everybody.

“We started this interview talking about some of the things that have happened in the last nine months. We want the next nine months, the next 12 months, the next 24 months to make that look like minor progress.”

Advance polls close Saturday night, before a day off for voting, and then the main polling day Monday. More details for voters can be found here.

The entire interview with Prime Minister Mark Carney can be watched at the top of this story, or you can listen to the audio version below. Further video coverage of Friday’s visit to Red Deer can be found here.

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by Josh Hall