Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney says it’s high time federal MPs take a stand and fight against those who wish to see Canada torn apart.<\/p>\n
Kenney, also a former federal cabinet minister, shared a stage at the University of Calgary on Monday with an unlikely ally \u2014 Calgary Liberal MP Corey Hogan.<\/p>\n
“We may just be 150 days away from a huge rupture in our lives together in our economy, in our political community, in our society,” Kenney said at the Case for a United Canada event.<\/p>\n
“Federalists need to start kicking it into gear here. I think we’ve allowed the separatists to almost completely dominate the debate on the process for the past year.”<\/p>\n
Kenney said the problem is there are those in Alberta who find the prospect of a vote on separation “unpleasant” and know someone who supports it. Separating, he said, is attractive to Albertans who feel disrespected by Ottawa.<\/p>\n “A large number of Albertans have concluded this is an opportunity to send a message to get leverage \u2014 to replicate Quebec’s knife to the throat strategy, and I say to them be careful for what you ask for,” he said.<\/p>\n Hogan, a one-time deputy minister in Kenney’s provincial government and the current parliamentary secretary to the federal energy minister, said time is running out for the federal government to respond.<\/p>\n He said it’s still not confirmed whether a vote on Alberta independence will go ahead, as the matter is currently held up in court.<\/p>\n “We don’t even technically have a referendum question right now. We’re in a very strange situation,” Hogan said. “You never want to be arguing against something that isn’t real, but unfortunately it’s starting to feel pretty real.<\/p>\n “We have five months to a referendum.”<\/p>\n