Ottawa and members of the eastern ruling class of Canada have made no secret of their contempt for Canada’s resource-rich prairie provinces and their inhabitants, proving time and again their willingness to simultaneously exploit the West’s wealth and hinder its progress.
‘Albertans are engaged and this is an issue people want to have a say on.’
While the powers that be might not be losing sleep over alienating the residents of these provinces, they could soon lose something far more precious: a province roughly 1.56 times bigger than California that’s home to over 5 million people, vast natural beauty, the fourth-largest proven oil reserves in the world, a large variety of valuable metallic and industrial minerals, and Atlanta’s former NHL franchise.
How it started
Canadians — not so much those in the 18-to-34 age bracket, who largely voted Conservative, but those over the age of 55 — decided last year to award another four years to the Liberal government that in the preceding years oversaw a historic growth of the federal deficit, numerous tax hikes, an unprecedented influx of immigrants, a spike in illegal immigration, rising crime, unanswered church burnings, a worsening housing crisis, and the rise of state-facilitated suicide as a leading cause of death nationally.
Unlike certain progressive regions that got what they wanted in the form of another Liberal government, the Province of Alberta flatly rejected World Economic Forum regular and self-identified “European” Mark Carney and his woke party.
The Conservatives netted 91.9% of the vote in Alberta, the province with the youngest population. The Liberals alternatively brought in a measly 5.4%.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith acknowledged her fellows’ frustration at the time, stating, “A large majority of Albertans are deeply frustrated that the same government that overtly attacked our provincial economy almost unabated for the past 10 years has been returned to government.”
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Elections Canada
While there has long been chatter about Alberta possibly separating from Canada, the 2025 federal election energized the secessionist movement.
Proponents of Albertan sovereignty were further emboldened after the provincial legislature passed amendments to the Citizen Initiative Act, which make it easier to start a referendum, including one on separating from Canada.
On Jan. 2, Alberta’s chief electoral officer issued the separatist group Stay Free Alberta’s citizen initiative petition, kicking off a 120-day signature collection period and setting the stage for a possible referendum in the event the group could secure at least 177,732 signatures, which amounts to 10% of eligible voters.
How it’s going
Stay Free Alberta petitioners, accompanied by hundreds of supporters, delivered the goods to Elections Alberta’s Edmonton office on Monday.
The separatists claim to have collected 301,620 signatures, state media reported. Another 1,500 signatures were allegedly late in coming owing to problems with Canada Post, the nation’s strike-happy, government-owned postal delivery service.
Stay Free Alberta leader Mitch Sylvestre told the crowd, “This process shows that Albertans are engaged and this is an issue people want to have a say on.”
Elections Alberta confirmed that Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure has received the petition and signature sheets from Sylvestre.
The verification is, however, on hold until Justice Shaina Leonard — an appointee of the Trudeau Liberal government — rules on a legal challenge advanced by a pair of Indian tribes that claim the petition process threatens treaty rights. Her decision is expected later this month.
Should the Indians’ legal challenge fail, the province will have 21 days to verify the petition.
If deemed successful, the petition will be submitted to provincial officials, who will then decide whether to sign off on a province-wide referendum, which could take place as soon as Oct. 19. Premier Smith previously indicated that if the requisite number of signatures were collected, she would put the question to a referendum.
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Leah Hennel/Bloomberg/Getty Images
An Abacus Data survey of 1,000 Alberta adults conducted in late February found that 26% of respondents support Alberta ceasing to be a Canadian province and becoming a sovereign country. Sixty-four percent of respondents signaled opposition, and 9% said they were undecided. The idea of regional independence was apparently most intolerable to those in the 60+ age cohort, 71% of whom signaled opposition.
A poll conducted last month by Canadian state media, whose coverage has largely been critical of the independence movement, said that 57% of United Conservative Party voters — those who back Alberta’s current ruling party — would vote for separation. Supporters of the province’s socialist New Democrat Party were almost unanimous in their opposition to breaking from the federation and Canada’s leftist central power, with 98% saying they would vote against the initiative.
When asked on Tuesday how he would prevent Albertan separatists from succeeding in a possible referendum, Prime Minister Carney said that “there’s the rule of law — there’s the Clarity Act which has been opined upon by the Supreme Court,” and “any referenda in any part of Canada need to be consistent with that.”
The Clarity Act sets out the conditions under which the federal government would negotiate the separation of a province.
Carney, who also appears hopeful that the Indian tribes’ legal challenge might prevail, added that Ottawa will in the meantime act “in the spirit of cooperative federalism, making the country work, making it work for Albertans, making it work for indigenous peoples, making it work for all Canadians.”
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