Poilievre in Edmonton: Urges Albertans to become 'even more Canadian'

Before Pierre Poilievre took the podium at a Downtown Edmonton hotel Tuesday night, the Can-con playlist that preceded him was curated to tug at nationalist heartstrings. Stan Rogers. Stompin' Tom Connors. The Band. Trooper. Even Captain Tractor's cover of the last-call-at-the-pub classic, The Last Saskatchewan Pirate.

When the federal Conservative leader took the stage, Canadian and Alberta flags behind him, his goal was clear: to call for Canadian unity, but offer an olive branch to those in the Conservative big tent who are leaning to vote yes when it comes to the Oct. 19's referendum question on separation. He told those yes-leaners that they aren't mad at Canada, but at a federal government that has overstepped its jurisdiction, choked progress on pipelines and wants to grab guns from rural Canadians.

He stressed that if all levels of government stayed in their lanes and focused on their areas of concern, Canadian businesses would be free to thrive — and there would be no separation debate in either Alberta or Quebec.

"We're a national family," said Poilievre. "Families have problems. They all have problems. Now, what do you do with those problems? Do you sweep them under the rug? Do you pretend they're not there, or do you have honest conversations to fix them in order to stay united? I believe you need honest conversations.

"So, just as we must not break up our country over our disagreements and grievances, we must not accept the Orwellian idea that criticizing our government is unpatriotic, or that acknowledging the grievances of Albertans is disloyal. If we want to unite this country, we need to give people who have lost hope in it a reason to renew their faith. You do not do that by telling them that their complaints are illegitimate or that the problems will never be fixed."

He said it's OK to love Canada, but also think that the federal government is the root of many of Canada's problems. He urged Albertans to support a "more Canadian" country by supporting federal and provincial parties that understand the division of power: that education and resource development is the purview of the provinces and the feds oversee national defence, foreign affairs and interprovincial trade.

"What Albertans are complaining about is not Canada," said Poilievre. "It is the government policies that are actually inconsistent with how Canada was meant to work in the first place. Many Albertans are legitimately frustrated that a costly and controlling, big and bossy government has gone far beyond its jurisdictional boundaries in Ottawa. It's blocked our provinces and people from enjoying Canadian prosperity.

"Separation will not solve those problems. Becoming even more Canadian will. The solution is to double down on the way the country was always meant to work, as per the British North America Act and vision: a federal government that is smaller or affordable would not only bring down inflation, debt and taxes. It would not only save you money. It would restore the traditional role of the federal government — a federal government that focuses on national defence, on tearing down interprovincial barriers to move our goods, that safeguards our sea, sky, soil, and citizenry with a military that can do its job and has the resources to do it, and borders that keep bad guys out and let the free flow of our citizens to travel around the world."

Poilievre's visit came the night before Prime Minister Mark Carney will appear in Edmonton. A new Janet Brown poll indicates more than half of Albertans are pleased with the work the Liberal Prime Minister is doing. Those are lofty numbers in a province that's usually as blue as the Oilers' home jersey.

Before the Conservative leader took the stage, Parkland MP Dane Lloyd emphasized that it's the Conservative Party who are the true defenders of national unity, that, by nature, Tories are "the greatest defender of Canadian heritage."

The conferencer room hosted about 200 attendees, including MPs from across Alberta, as well as Ward pihesiwin Coun. Mike Elliott, former city councillor Jennifer Rice and former municipal candidate Mark Hillman, who lost to Michael Janz in the 2025 Ward papastew election. Hillman is chasing the Conservative nomination in Edmonton-Riverbend.

Poilievre's speech got a slow motion standing ovation at the end — that is, it took a while for all in the crowd to get out of their seats. But, he had two pregnant pauses in his speech for ovations, and at those points only about half in attendance clapped for the national unity talking points.

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