Exclusive: Sovereignty supporters pack Alberta Prosperity Project event in Edmonton

The Alberta Prosperity Project brought its campaign for provincial independence to Edmonton on Tuesday, drawing about 300 attendees to its town hall.

Source: Juno News

The Alberta Prosperity Project brought its campaign for provincial independence to Edmonton on Tuesday, drawing about 300 attendees to its town hall, while another 600 tuned in to the livestream to listen to the group’s pitch for independence.

The town hall was one of nearly 40 events the group has held across Alberta in the past two months.

The event’s first speaker was Dr. Dennis Modry, who implemented Western Canada’s first heart and lung transplantation program and performed the first heart and lung transplants in the 80s and 90s.

“Sovereignty is self-governance, freedom from external interference. It’s not a left or right issue. It’s a pragmatic issue,” said Modry. “If we save Alberta, we may save the rest of Canada.”

General Counsel for the Alberta Prosperity Project, Jeffrey Rath, was the night’s second presenter, similarly taking aim at Carney but also taking issue with Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

Rath alleged that Carney was former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s puppetmaster. He also warned of the potential upcoming home equity tax and said that Nova Scotia’s forest ban was only the beginning of climate lockdowns.

The third and final presenter was the Alberta Prosperity Project’s CEO, Mitch Sylvester.

He focused primarily on how the nation was built to work against Alberta — citing equalization payments, pension contributions, senate representation, Supreme Court justice representation, and more.

Sylvester suggested that things will continue to worsen and that Alberta’s success cannot occur under Canada’s rule because Carney and Liberal politicians think they’re “above the law,” citing the billions of dollars that have been wasted and vanished, despite the fact that elected officials aren’t held accountable for their unethical behaviour.

Several attendees on the ground shared their reasons for supporting separation with True North.

Edmonton resident Kathryn Speck, a volunteer helping organize the event, said she had lived in numerous other provinces and loves Canada.

“But it doesn’t seem like the Canada of today is the same as the Canada of my past,” she said. “I feel we can have a better relationship with Canada once we’re independent. That’s what I’m hoping and praying for.”

Don Bonner, an oil industry veteran of 45 years, said he likes that within five years of Alberta’s independence, income tax could evaporate, the province could generate $45 to $65 billion annually to help fix its social programs like healthcare, and that the province could have a better deal with Indigenous people.

“I kind of feel like a pioneer when they hooked their horses to the wagons and they’re coming out west,” he said. “I’m really excited.”

Another volunteer at the event, Herod, told True North that he supported Alberta sovereignty because of the direction he felt Canada was headed regarding authoritarianism, the suspension of civil liberties, and the federal government continuing to push how far it can exert its power.

While the Alberta Prosperity Project will need to gather around 176,000 signatures to trigger its referendum question, Sylvester told True North his group already has more than 250,000 pledges.

“It’s going to be the most important political decision anybody in Alberta will ever make,” said Sylvester. “I really believe that we’re going to get one shot at this, because I really think that’s what’s at stake, I don’t believe that the federal government will allow this to ever happen again.”