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4w ago

Lloydminster Town Hall Backs Alberta Next Proposals, Cheers Calls for Deportation and Separation

Smith casts the consultation drive as a response to federal overreach.

Premier Danielle Smith's Alberta Next panel heard loud cheers for mass deportation of immigrants and Alberta separation during an otherwise tame town hall in Lloydminster on Wednesday evening.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith at a press conference in Edmonton in May. The Premier insisted at a Tuesday town hall that Ottawa is the rightful target of criticism coming her way.

Overview

  • About 350 people attended the Lloydminster event, where the loudest applause followed calls for mass deportations and for Alberta to separate from Canada during an immigration segment.
  • Straw polls in Lloydminster, as at prior stops, showed overwhelming support for the panel’s six ideas, including leaving the Canada Pension Plan and creating a provincial police force.
  • The panel is soliciting feedback to shape potential referendum questions, with Smith arguing a vote may be needed to measure the province’s “true will.”
  • A night earlier in Fort McMurray, roughly 250 attendees mostly endorsed the proposals, though some pressed Smith on classroom sizes, surgical capacity and out-of-pocket COVID-19 vaccines as she blamed Ottawa policies for fiscal pressures.
  • A small group of protesters gathered in Lloydminster and critics continue to question the process, while the tour moves on to Medicine Hat next week with more town halls scheduled through September.