Counter-protest groups turn up at Premier Smith's final 'Alberta Next' town hall
Ahead of potential 2026 referendum questions, Alberta's provincial government has been narrowing its focus with a series of town hall events. Rebel News reporter Syd Fizzard covered the final event, which featured 'Remain in Canada' advocates and communist youths.
The province of Alberta has concluded its in-person Alberta Next Panel town hall-style events. Premier Danielle Smith established this series to evaluate Albertans' preferences on six topics, prior to referendum questions being finalized next year.
In 2026, Alberta is expected to host a variety of questions in a referendum style format. This will impact what approach the provincial government takes regarding certain subject manner.
Those six topics include federal transfers and equalization, the Alberta Pension Plan, constitutional changes, a provincial police force, immigration and tax collection.
A theme praised by many, but also contested, is Alberta's pursuit for further autonomy from the federal government — be it taking over services or having more authority over federal decisions impacting the province.
There were a few counter-protesters at the event, namely two 'Remain in Canada' petition advocates and a handful of communist youth. the 'Remain in Canada' protester was reluctant to speak with Rebel News but did answer a few questions.
I interviewed a lone 'remain in Canada' petition advocate at Premier Smith's Alberta Next Panel town hall in Calgary... pic.twitter.com/joo0uELkJ3
— Syd Fizzard 🍁 (@SydFizzard) September 30, 2025
The handful of communists staged themselves outside the main exit as attendees left, displaying some signage related to their cause.
Though optically politically opposite to Rebel News' in some regards, one did take the time to speak with us. Given the recent high-profile political assassination of Charlie Kirk and consequent designation of Antifa a terrorist organization in the United States, I thought it imperative to ask how this communist spokesperson felt regarding that incident.
Thankfully, this individual did not celebrate such actions as appropriate; however, you'll have to watch that interview above to decide whether his response was fully forthright.
"It was a good discussion this evening," Premier Smith told me after the event.
Having now concluded this provincewide town hall series, Smith says, “it was terrific.”
With the events focusing on what comes next for Alberta, we should soon see how the provincial government remolds itself to the feedback Albertans have provided.
Sydney Fizzard
Video Journalist
After seeing the manipulation and harm caused by the pandemic narrative, Sydney Fizzard started on the path of reporting in mid 2020. With an interest in hearing from everyday Canadians, politicians, business owners, religious figures and community leaders, Syd aims to reveal underlying truths and examine societal movement. Notably, Syd spent 16 consecutive days at the Coutts, Alberta border blockade.
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COMMENTS
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Bruce Atchison commented 2025-09-30 22:30:29 -0400What needs to happen is for a referendum to have clear and succinct questions. This competing petitions thing is just wasting time. If Danielle Smith was serious about letting the people decide, she’d go ahead and let the referendum go ahead.
