STATEMENT ON PROVINCIAL ADDRESS The Premier of Alberta intervened to lower the threshold for getting a separatist question on the ballot. She then intervened to eliminate a review requiring the question be constitutional. She intervenes again tonight after yet another court has told the separatists to slow down and follow the law. The premier can wrap these actions in the words of democracy, but she is willfully ignoring the will of the vast majority of Albertans who want no part of this separatist conversation. The simple reality, a reality you would not find in her speech, is this: she has pushed along a question because a group has threatened to bring down her and her party if she does not. Her internal political problems have become our national crisis. The Premier asserts her patriotism. I will take her at her word, but I will remind her a patriot puts country ahead of party. A leader steers the agenda, rather than having it blindly dictated to them. An Albertan finds ways to do what’s right, not justifications for doing what’s wrong. This baffling, referendum-on-a-referendum question will do nothing to settle anything. It adds another layer of confusion. It will divide. It will distract. It will damage. I hope her government will consider how to step back from this madness before the damage to our province’s social fabric and economy is too great. Corey Hogan MP Calgary Confederation