Carney uses Thanksgiving message from his Edmonton high school to urge Albertans to stay in Canada

Prime Minister Mark Carney used a Thanksgiving Monday video filmed in an Edmonton high school classroom to make a direct appeal for Alberta to remain in Canada, one week before voters answer a referendum question on the province’s place in Confederation. In the video message posted by the Prime Minister’s Office, Carney said Albertans will decide “whether to remain part of Canada or begin a long and uncertain process through which Alberta could separate from Canada.” He recorded the clip at St. Francis Xavier High School in west Edmonton, which he attended as a student.

“You can’t build big things on fault lines,” Carney said in the video, according to both the PMO transcript and CBC News. “And we should recognise that the world has changed. Canada is facing real threats – to our economy, to our security, to our way of life. We have to be strong and we are stronger together.” He added that generations of Albertans helped build the country: “It’s yours, it’s ours, and it’s worth fighting for.”

A separate written Thanksgiving statement released by the PMO in Ottawa struck a broader national tone without naming Alberta. Carney said the holiday comes “at a consequential moment” as Canada faces threats to its economy, security and sovereignty, and that “Canada is strongest when we stand together.” He thanked Canadians for supporting local businesses, buying Canadian and looking out for their neighbours, and closed with “Happy Thanksgiving, Canada – from my family to yours.”

Alberta’s referendum on Oct. 19 includes 10 questions. The final one asks whether the province should remain part of Canada or hold a second, binding referendum on separating from the country, CBC reported. The ballot is non-binding on the separation process question, but Carney treated the choice as consequential for federal projects he says are underway in the province, including housing, a proposed Edmonton–Calgary high-speed rail link and a West Coast oil pipeline listed as a project of national interest.

“I’m back home a lot these days because we are building big things again in Alberta,” Carney said in the video. “Thousands of new homes. High-speed rail. A new pipeline to the West Coast that will create lasting opportunity and prosperity for hundreds of thousands of people – in this province and across the country.” He said Canada is “building across Canada at a speed and scale not seen in generations,” but that none of it can be achieved “if we are divided.”

CTV News reported that Carney’s Thanksgiving remarks were among his most direct comments yet on the referendum, after months of focusing on policy changes aimed at Alberta grievances with Ottawa, including scrapping the former consumer carbon tax and backing a West Coast pipeline. Political scientist Lori Turnbull of Dalhousie University told CTV that Carney “has dealt with those things” that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith used to complain about, even as others in his party questioned his climate commitments.

CBC said it sought comment from Smith’s office. Press secretary Sam Blackett pointed Albertans to the official referendum information site and, in a statement also cited by The Globe and Mail, said the provincial government continues to urge Albertans to vote for a strong and sovereign Alberta in a united Canada. Blackett said the premier, caucus and party support Alberta remaining in Canada while seeking a mandate for immigration and constitutional reforms that would increase provincial sovereignty within Canada. Advance voting was set to open in the days after Thanksgiving, with Carney expected in Alberta during the week to press the unity case.

Sources: Prime Minister of Canada: Thanksgiving video message (Oct. 12, 2026); Prime Minister of Canada: Statement on Thanksgiving (Oct. 12, 2026); CBC News (Oct. 12, 2026); CTV News (Oct. 12, 2026).