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Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada’s hard-earned reputation as one of the most “trustworthy, reliable and desirable countries” is on the line in Alberta’s upcoming separation referendum, warning that a vote to leave would prompt years of uncertainty at the worst possible time.
Speaking to reporters at an end-of-sitting news conference on Thursday, Carney said he will spend part of the summer convincing Albertans that while Canada is already the “best” country, “we can get better” on some issues.
Carney said his “core message” to voters there is that the province has a willing partner in Ottawa eager to develop Canada’s resource wealth and a possible pipeline to the Pacific.
He pointed to his memorandum of understanding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on these and other issues as a sign that things have changed in Ottawa under his leadership and that “co-operative federalism” now prevails.
“We’re seen as one of the most trustworthy, reliable, desirable countries to do business with and we shouldn’t mess that up,” he said.
The world is already “fundamentally uncertain” due to the protectionist push south of the border and geopolitical tension elsewhere. A component of Canada going it alone would only make matters worse, he said.
Recalling his experience with Brexit, which was prompted by a vote held 10 years ago this week, Carney said a yes vote on this fall’s referendum question — which is actually a vote on whether to hold another referendum with an explicit question on leaving — would disrupt the economy and national life.
“This is a real referendum. It’s not a question about a question. A free option,” Carney said.
“I saw first-hand what happened, what gets sold in these referenda. It’s ‘everything’s going to be easy, you can keep your passport, you can keep the currency, you can stay in the country and leave it at the same time,'” Carney said.
“You’ve seen what happened in the U.K.,” Carney said, referencing the anemic growth in Britain after crashing out of the European Union.
