Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she will “respect the outcome” of a referendum vote to separate the western province from the rest of Canada, but insisted she does not support the initiative.

Pressed repeatedly on whether she would pursue separation if a vote in Alberta endorsed it, Smith conceded she would.

“What I have said is that I will respect the outcome of citizen-initiated referenda, and that’s why it’s my job to make sure it doesn’t get to that point,” Smith told CTV Power Play host Vassy Kapelos in an interview on Wednesday. “I want Canada to be strong and united, and for provincial jurisdiction to be respected, and that’s what I’ll be working towards.”

Smith said it is her job to “bring the temperature down” to ensure Albertans don’t vote to separate, but would not commit to quashing the initiative outright.

Last week, Smith’s government tabled legislation to reduce the threshold for a petition to trigger a referendum. The legislation, if passed, would both significantly reduce the number of signatures required, and extend the time period for signatures to be collected.

As support for a referendum on separation appears to be gathering steam online, Smith said Monday that her government will not be putting a vote to that effect on a ballot. However, she said, her government “will respect the democratic process” and include the question on separation on a referendum ballot next year, if a petition meets the threshold.

When challenged by Kapelos on the complexity of Alberta separating from Canada — for example when it comes to issues like health-care transfers — Smith said that will be for “constitutional scholars and lawyers to discuss,” but adding it’s not an immediate issue.

“At the moment, there isn’t a petition campaign, there isn’t a question,” she said. “All there is, is, I think, some good will in trying to be able to resolve some of the issues that have burbled up over the last 10 years.”

Smith insisted she is against separation, and repeated that she supports “Alberta sovereignty within a united Canada,” something she also said during her address on Monday.

The premier pointed to recent polling from Nanos Research suggesting about 30 per cent of Albertans believe the province should either separate to become an independent country or become part of the United States.

“My job is to make sure that the temperature is brought down so much that there isn’t even a need for a citizen-initiated referenda,” Smith told Kapelos. “And so, I think that the prime minister has a window here in the next six months to be able to meaningfully address the issues that we put on the table.”

When asked by Kapelos whether the easiest way to quell the separatist sentiment is to say it won’t happen, Smith pointed to the example of the Bloc Quebecois as proof that dissatisfied people need an outlet.

“Let’s not demonize people,” she said. “Let’s acknowledge that the feelings have a root, and the root is in the way Alberta has been treated for last 10 years by the Liberals. So that’s genuine.”

“And I’m being very direct with the prime minister and saying, if we can solve some of these things, I think that will bring the temperature down, and that’s what I’ll continue to do,” she added.

Smith in her interview also discussed her impressions of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, categorizing his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump as “successful.”