Canmore resort pulls venue for Alberta referendum event with separatist ties

By Jessica Lee

Referendum town hall, Q&A cancelled by Stone Creek Resorts CEO, who says he will not support an event linked to Alberta separation

CANMORE – Silvertip Resort cancelled an Alberta referendum town hall that was scheduled for Wednesday (Oct. 7) after the resort’s founder and CEO learned more about the event and its speakers.

Guy Turcotte said the Canmore resort had little information about the booking when it was made by Trudy Corbett, who is president of the Banff-Kananaskis UCP constituency association.

Silvertip regularly hosts the association’s meetings, which Corbett books, and Turcotte said staff initially believed the referendum event was another constituency function.

Corbett says it was not.

She said she booked the room under her own name, as a private citizen, on behalf of people who wanted to bring the event to Canmore.

“It was booked under my name as a citizen of Canmore,” she said.

Turcotte later acknowledged Silvertip had no documentation showing the event was being organized by the constituency association.

“It’s possible that she was booking this on behalf of another group, but we don’t have any paperwork about that,” he said. “We’ve only dealt with her through the UCP and she asked to book the room.”

The event was advertised as an “Alberta Referendum Town Hall and Q&A” featuring speakers Eva Chipiuk, Tanya Clemens and Cory Morgan.

Turcotte said he became aware of the event over the weekend and cancelled it Monday (Sept. 28) after looking into it and believing it to be a potential Alberta “separation meeting.”

“Under no circumstance do I support separation of this province from Canada,” he said. “So, we just decided we’re not going to do this.”

Stone Creek Resorts owns Silvertip Resort.

Corbett said the Banff-Kananaskis UCP constituency association had “zero” involvement in organizing the event and described it as a citizen-led effort to give people another perspective ahead of the referendum.

Abraham Mannakuzhil, who helped organize the event, also said it had no connection to the UCP or the Banff-Kananaskis constituency association.

“We are a small group of Canmore residents who decided to organize this event,” he said in an email. “We needed to provide a name for the reservation, which is why Trudy’s name was used.”

Mannakuzhil said he respected Silvertip’s right to cancel the booking.

Of the speakers who were scheduled to talk at the event, Clemens is co-chair of Let Alberta Decide, a registered referendum third-party advertiser campaigning for Alberta independence ahead of the Oct. 19 vote. The Canmore event is also listed on Let Alberta Decide’s website.

Morgan, who was raised in Banff, founded the Alberta Independence Party in 2000 and later became a founding member of the Wildrose Party. He has remained an advocate for Alberta independence and this year formed Pathway to Independence, a registered third-party advertiser campaigning for option two in the referendum. Chipiuk has also publicly advocated for Alberta separating from Canada and has appeared at independence events.

Corbett said the event was meant to give people an opportunity to hear another perspective before voting.

“People should be able to hear the information and gather the information and make an informed decision,” she said.

She maintained she was acting as a private citizen booking the venue, rather than as president of the Banff-Kananaskis UCP constituency association, saying she does not “cross lines” between the two roles.

“As a citizen, I can do what I wish to do,” Corbett said.

Asked whether she supports Alberta independence, she declined to say.

Elections Alberta financial disclosures, however, show Corbett contributed $500 to Pathway to Independence and $500 to Let Alberta Decide. She confirmed these were personal donations made by her and noted she also donates to the UCP and other non-profit organizations in Alberta. 

Turcotte said Stone Creek had no role in organizing or promoting the referendum event and Silvertip was only providing the venue.

He said the resort regularly rents meeting space to outside groups and initially had little reason to scrutinize the booking.

“We’re in the business of renting meeting rooms here at Silvertip,” he said.

Turcotte said he became aware of the event after it began circulating on social media over the weekend, generating a lot of engagement in the Bow Valley.  

He said reaction to its cancellation was divided, with some people upset Silvertip pulled the event and others supportive of the decision.

“At the end of the day, we stand behind our principles,” said Shauna Dudding, president and COO of Stone Creek Resorts. “That’s just what it is.”

Turcotte said the cancellation would not affect anyone’s ability to book meetings at Silvertip in the future.

“We’re not going to hold anything against anybody,” Turcotte said. “I truly think this is a one-off thing.”

The Oct. 19 referendum includes 10 questions. Question 10 asks Albertans whether the province should remain in Canada or whether the Alberta government should begin the legal process required to hold a future binding referendum on separation.