Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas has joined Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack and Red Deer Mayor Cindy Jefferies in a video urging Albertans to vote against Alberta's October independence referendum.

The mayors warn that even discussing Alberta's future could create uncertainty and threaten economic prosperity. "Leaving Canada would create uncertainty for Alberta’s economy, threaten jobs and investment, and put at risk the quality of life we’ve worked so hard to build," Farkas wrote on X.

But before Albertans take constitutional advice from municipal politicians, they might reasonably ask how things are going in the cities those politicians were elected to run.

As the Mayors of Alberta’s largest cities, we are standing up against the referendum for a referendum and encouraging Albertans to vote this October.

Leaving Canada would create uncertainty for Alberta’s economy, threaten jobs and investment, and put at risk the quality of life… pic.twitter.com/klkHAlyqxY

— Jeromy (Pathfinder) Farkas (@JeromyYYC) June 7, 2026

Take a walk through downtown Edmonton.

A man in Edmonton was recorded taking a wet dump on a gas station's doors on 97 Street… pic.twitter.com/f589dPlWSh

— YEGWAVE (@yegwave) May 25, 2026

The city continues to struggle with open-air drug use, homelessness encampments, transit violence, repeat offenders and the ongoing fallout from the opioid crisis. Businesses and residents have spent years sounding the alarm about deteriorating public safety and disorder in the downtown core.

Scene in an alley near 104 Street and 102 Avenue in downtown Edmonton just recently after tactical police officers boxed in a vehicle and surrounded it with weapons drawn 😳 pic.twitter.com/XpYQ1NcBhJ

— YEGWAVE (@yegwave) June 3, 2026

Red Deer faces many of the same challenges. The city has become one of Alberta's most visible examples of the devastation caused by fentanyl addiction. Public drug use, homelessness, crime and chronic disorder remain persistent concerns for residents and downtown business owners.

My buddy Tim took this picture in Red Deer this morning, and shared it with our group, with the following caption:

"Our community is broken".

Who agrees?

Note: Shared with his permision. pic.twitter.com/OMpwIksaZn

— Martyupnorth®- Unacceptable Fact Checker (@Martyupnorth) April 2, 2026

Calgary residents continue to contend with homelessness, addiction, encampments, public disorder and concerns about safety in parts of the downtown core and on public transit.

Scene at a Popeyes on 17 Ave in Calgary moments ago.

“Something happened over her food not being given to her idk” a submission via DMs said. pic.twitter.com/WdQUT6NJnD

— YEGWAVE (@yegwave) June 7, 2026

These are not federal responsibilities. They are not constitutional questions. They are municipal responsibilities.

@calgarytransit the people at the end were smoking crack on the 8 street platform. Where are the transit cop at? pic.twitter.com/GqjDMxMsBp

— travis the angry canadian 🇨🇦🇺🇸 (@Travisbecker17) June 7, 2026

Yet instead of focusing on the problems directly affecting residents, Alberta's mayors have chosen to campaign against a provincial referendum that simply asks Albertans what they think about Alberta's future.

The referendum is not a vote to separate from Canada.

It is a vote on whether Alberta should pursue independence.

Albertans can vote yes.

Albertans can vote no.

That is democracy.

Municipalities are not sovereign governments. Alberta creates municipalities, defines their powers, changes their boundaries, amalgamates them and, if it chooses, can dissolve them altogether through legislation. The authority exercised by Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer ultimately flows from the Province of Alberta itself.

Yet municipal politicians whose powers exist only because the province grants them have decided to intervene in a debate about the future constitutional status of the province that created them.

Albertans can make up their own minds about independence.

But before Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer's mayors lecture the province about democracy and constitutional questions, they might want to focus on the boarded-up storefronts, the addiction crisis, the encampments and the public disorder that continue to plague the downtown cores they were elected to manage.

Unlike the referendum, Albertans are already living with them every day.

Help fund our independent reporting on Alberta's independence movement!

Rebel News is stepping up where the legacy media have failed. We've assigned Tamara Lich to follow the Alberta independence movement as it unfolds — not from a government-funded newsroom in Toronto, but on the ground with the people actually shaping it. We don’t take a cent of the Liberals' media bailouts, which means we rely entirely on viewers like you to make this journalism possible. If you want Albertans to have a fair voice in a debate the establishment would rather crush, please chip in today and help us keep this reporting going strong.

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