Global News Edmonton has reported:

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre urged Albertans not to abandon Canada as they prepare to vote in a referendum on the province’s future. Speaking in Calgary on Friday, three days before the vote, he said he understood separatist disillusionment but argued that leaving the country was not the answer. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Poilievre are both in Alberta making final appeals for voters to stay in Canada.

“Quitting is the easy way out - and Albertans are not quitters,” Poilievre said. “We don’t just take our ball and go home. We don’t walk away. We stand and fight for what we believe in, and we reflect upon all that we have.”

He said Canada was built, defended and renewed by generations who honoured those before them. “Some even died (in wars) so that we can have the country that we have today,” he said. “They had to be strong so that we could be free.” He argued that the answer was to restore the country’s greatness, which generations had defended and built.

Poilievre acknowledged concerns about rising costs, what he described as a lax justice system, an out-of-control immigration program and federal policies that restrict resource development. He urged people considering a separation vote to look beyond their frustration with the current government. “To those people who are thinking about taking out their frustration on the current government by voting for separation in the referendum, I say this: Canada is more than a government. “It is a people, a flag, a land, a history and a promise.”

Albertans will vote Monday on whether the province should remain in Canada or proceed to a second, binding referendum on leaving Confederation. That is one of 10 questions on the ballot; the other nine concern immigration and the Canadian Constitution. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called the referendum earlier this year.

Polls have indicated a strong majority favour staying in Canada, but leaders have warned that low turnout could make a separation vote more likely to win. Voting has been available by mail and at advance polls for more than a week. Participation levels suggest the final count could set a record.

Smith has said discontent with past federal policies reached a boiling point, with hundreds of thousands of people signing petitions both for and against remaining in Confederation. She said a referendum is needed to settle the issue once and for all. Critics argue the vote does not resolve a broad-based grievance, but instead inflames and validates fringe separatist sentiment. They say Smith is gambling with the country’s future to appease hardliners in her United Conservative Party.