'Canada is as united as it has ever been': Thousands gather for Forever Canadian's Calgary Concert for Unity

Thousands of Albertans gathered for Forever Canadian’s Calgary Concert for Unity at The Confluence on Sunday afternoon.

The concert hosted seven artists from across the province, headlined by Calgary-born singer-songwriter Jann Arden , said leader of the Forever Canadian movement and former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk.

More than 12,000 RSVPs were received for the event, as hundreds of people began to trickle into the park.

Buses were chartered for communities including Medicine Hat and Lethbridge for people to come out to the event, all to show how proud they are to be Canadian, he said.

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“I think the most important part of this all is that it will show a strong message not only to our premier, but to the rest of Canada and to the rest of the world, how united we are, how we cannot be fractured and how we will not allow either politicians or foreign actors to take advantage of us,” Lukaszuk said. “We can’t be broken up. We can’t be split apart.”

A call was given to a number of artists and all the performers of the event agreed to put on a show for free, Lukaszuk said.

For the past 17 months, he has been on the Freedom Bus and tallied more than 40,000 kilometres.

On Monday, Lukaszuk will make a 10:30 a.m. announcement at their Calgary office along Riverfront Avenue, where their campaign will make a “drastic” transition.

With the Oct. 19 referendum less than a month away, Lukaszuk said Canadian patriotism is being tested and more needs to be done.