Referendum Madness!

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has some questions she wants Albertans to answer. Nine of them, to be exact. That’s how many referendum questions Smith announced in a televised speech that she’s going to put to Albertans on Oct. 19. They range from constitutional reform to abolish the Senate and change who picks judges, to several that would directly affect some immigrants and the services they receive. To unpack the proposed immigration changes, host Jason Markusoff is first joined by Raj Sharma, an immigration lawyer based in Calgary. He argues many of the questions appear outside Alberta’s jurisdiction. Then, the panel breaks down the rest of the premier’s address. Journalist Rob Breakenridge says the referendum could serve as a distraction in advance of a bad-news budget. Evan Menzies, a vice-president at Crestview Strategy and former head of communications for the United Conservative Party, says there are reasonable questions to be debated amongst the proposals. Finally, Shannon Greer, a senior consultant at New West Public Affairs, who worked in Rachel Notley’s NDP government, says the government is sending contradictory messages. • Host: Jason Markusoff • Guests: Raj Sharma, Rob Breakenridge, Evan Menzies and Shannon Greer • Producer: Joel Dryden

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Referendum Madness! is an episode from West of Centre by CBC.

This episode is 00:49:23 long.

This episode was published on Feb 20, 2026.

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