CTV News Calgary has reported:

Alberta separatists are seeking to trigger a review of Premier Danielle Smith’s leadership, regardless of how Albertans vote in the referendum on the province’s place in Canada. They are pursuing a provision in the United Conservative Party’s bylaws that could lead to a special meeting if one quarter of the party’s constituency associations agree.

Jeffrey Rath, a prominent voice in the separatist movement, said the effort had reached its third constituency association. “We need 22. And the third constituency association, Calgary Currie, just voted the other night for a review of Danielle Smith’s leadership. … I understand that there’s a whole bunch more that are going to follow,” he said.

Rath said he does not trust the premier. “Danielle Smith can’t be trusted. She’s completely untrustworthy,” he said. Separatist leaders are also urging voters to “decline the nine,” referring to the referendum’s first nine questions, because they say Smith should not be trusted, particularly in her dealings with the federal government.

“Danielle Smith is completely incompetent to lead the province of Alberta. She’s telling everybody to vote against our own best negotiating position against (Prime Minister) Mark Carney,” Rath said. He added: “If you want to vote yes to all of Danielle’s silly questions in the hope that she might actually not lie to you for a change and actually do something, by all means, go ahead and do it.”

The bylaw could give separatists influence within the UCP, and some political experts say the party has been hurt by the issue. Lori Williams, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, said the party is now associated with an unwanted referendum and outside support for separatism.

“The party is associated at this stage with an unwanted referendum and outside support for separatism,” Williams said. Smith could emerge in a stronger position if Albertans decide to stay in Canada and the first nine referendum questions receive favourable votes, she said. If those outcomes do not occur, Williams said, the result could pose “a huge problem” for the premier.

“If Danielle Smith loses on all nine of those questions, that is really going to raise questions about her leadership, because she has essentially pitched these questions as the ones she wants people to support her on. She has spent about $4 million of taxpayers’ money in this referendum in support of those questions,” Williams said.

“If she doesn’t get a majority vote on any one of those questions, that could be very problematic for her. … It could signal a high degree of isolation,” she added. The referendum’s result could therefore become part of the debate over Smith’s leadership, alongside the party’s internal process.

The UCP says Smith has a 91 per cent approval rating and that nearly 50 constituency associations have supported her leadership. The party’s annual general meeting is scheduled for next month in Calgary, but a leadership review is not on its agenda.

A recent Abacus Data survey suggests the separation question may remain in public debate after the referendum, even if the result strongly favours staying in Canada. The firm said respondents expressed considerable confidence in the ballot count but much less confidence that both sides would respect the result.

“Sixty-eight per cent trust Elections Alberta to count the ballots fairly, including 26 per cent who trust it completely. Yet only 40 per cent trust that both sides will respect the result, while 44 per cent distrust that they will,” Abacus Data said in a release.

The survey found 61 per cent expect Albertans will vote again on separation and continue debating the province’s place in Canada. Even if a majority votes to remain, 73 per cent think the question will return in some form. At the same time, 67 per cent want the provincial government to turn the page and focus on everyday concerns, including health care, affordability and jobs.

Abacus Data conducted the survey from Oct. 7 to 13, with 1,021 Alberta voters taking part. The firm said the margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is approximately plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Former UCP leader and premier Jason Kenney said he believes Carney is making a persuasive case for a united Canada through his actions. Kenney pointed to the commitment to a west coast pipeline, the repeal of most of what he called the bad Trudeau laws, efforts to make Canada an energy superpower, deregulation and speeding up processes.

“There’s a lot more work to do, but heck, we’ve seen a lot of progress, and I think it’s powerful to hear a prime minister referring to himself as an Albertan,” Kenney said. He said his message to separatists if the vote does not go their way is to “mend fences with friends.”

“That’s one thing that concerns me. A lot of neighbours are not talking to each other. Some family members aren’t talking to each other now because of this,” Kenney said. He hopes people can heal personal rifts after the vote, which is scheduled for Tuesday.

“I hope on Tuesday we can heal those personal wounds and move on. ... If this is a strong vote for Canada, the worst thing would be for the separatists to say, ‘To hell with that. We don’t respect it. We’re going to keep wielding the ax.’ That would be very unfortunate and create lasting divisions in our society,” Kenney said.