CALGARY -- Prime Minister Mark Carney has told thousands rallying in Calgary that Albertans should vote to keep the province in Canada, arguing that failing to do so will cause "deep division and great uncertainty."
Carney is speaking at a Forever Canadian rally ahead of Monday's vote on the whether the province should stay in Confederation or hold a second, binding referendum on separation.
Many in the crowd are wearing red and white, hoisting hockey sticks with Canadian flags and wearing Team Canada jerseys.
Carney says the referendum comes at the worst possible time, when the world has become more dangerous and divided and some outside Canada's borders are working to "break us so they can own us."
He says a vote against Canada is a dangerous bluff that could lead to years of lost opportunities.
He says frustrations in Alberta are real but that Canada is working in a spirit of co-operative federalism.