A new campaign aimed at keeping Alberta within Canada was officially launched in Edmonton after Premier Danielle Smith announced plans for an October referendum related to the province’s future in Confederation.

Former Alberta deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk introduced the “Forever Canadian” campaign, which will travel throughout Alberta in a “Unity Bus” to encourage residents to vote in favour of remaining part of Canada.

At the launch event, supporters wearing red and white waved Canadian flags and sang the national anthem while Lukaszuk described the referendum as one of the most important moments in Alberta’s history.

The campaign plans to organize volunteers, distribute informational materials, put up lawn signs, and encourage voter participation across the province.The referendum proposal follows growing political debate around Alberta separatism.

Smith stated that hundreds of thousands of signatures collected by both the separatist “Stay Free Alberta” petition and the federalist “Forever Canadian” petition demonstrate significant public interest in holding a vote on Alberta’s place within Canada.

However, Lukaszuk rejected the premier’s interpretation, arguing many people signed the Forever Canadian petition specifically to oppose separatism and prevent a referendum from occurring.

He said Albertans are now being forced into a divisive political debate and stressed that his campaign’s goal is to secure a strong majority in support of Canada.The issue has also drawn national political attention.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has publicly supported efforts to keep Alberta in Canada, while Liberal minister Eleanor Olszewski attended the campaign launch and emphasized that Albertan and Canadian identities are closely connected.Meanwhile, the separatist group Stay Free Alberta had not announced its own provincewide campaign at the time of publication.