“Western Alienation Separation”

A petition asking Albertans if they want to remain a part of Canada has been approved by Elections Alberta. A competing petition calling for Alberta’s separation has been referred to the courts by Elections Alberta to determine whether it is constitutional before it can proceed.

Alberta’s chief electoral officer, Gordon McClure, approved the petition against Alberta’s separation by group Alberta Forever Canada on July 30, saying as per legislation, it now needed to garner signatures from 10 percent of eligible voters, or 293,976 signatures, to qualify as a referendum.

Whatever one thinks of Alberta’s separation movement, the referendum question it seeks to pose to Albertans is a vast improvement over those confronting voters in the 1995 and 1980 Quebec referenda on separation.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has rejected the notion of Alberta independence, and instead suggests forming alliances with other provinces to overhaul Ottawa’s oppressive system.

He acknowledged Alberta has been “under relentless attack” for decades, with the province paying more than it receives into Ottawa’s equalization fund, and enduring federal anti-oil and anti-gun laws.

Dear Canada,

It grieves us — though not unduly — to write what must now be said: this relationship, such as it ever was, is over. Done. Toast. You may keep the Laurentian furniture; we’ll be taking the pickup, the pipeline plans, and whatever’s left of our dignity.

And before you interrupt with the old chestnut about “working through our differences,” let’s be frank for once: it’s not us, it’s definitely you.

The wheels are in motion, and the independence‑referendum train has already left the station. Decades of neglect and abuse of Western interests have created unprecedented frustration. From where I sit, Central Canada will never treat the Western provinces as full partners in the federation.

A few days ago, I had a discussion with a widely respected western businessman, and good friend, about the current independence movement in Alberta and Saskatchewan. I was intrigued by his thoughts about how we might advance the goal of greater western autonomy at this time in our history.

We agreed that, despite the gallant efforts of many, for far too many years, the flame for fairness has been repeatedly ignored and snuffed out, again and again. The harsh reality is, if an insufficient number of westerners don’t take the issue of independence seriously, why should eastern Canadians?

As Canada prepares Tuesday to blow out 158 birthday candles, Alberta plans three days later to formalize rules making it easier to have an independence celebration of its own.

Beginning Friday, Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative government is officially lowering the required threshold for citizens to initiate a provincewide referendum, including on separation.

In light of the poor showing by separatist candidates in recent Alberta byelections, pundits and politicians will be tempted to again dismiss threats of western separatism as over-hyped, and too tiny to be taken seriously, just as they did before and after the April 28 federal election.

Much of the initial skepticism came after former Leader of the Opposition Preston Manning authored a column arguing that some in central Canada never see western populism coming. He cited separatist sympathies as the newest example.

The arithmetic rolls out. The devil is in the details. The fine print is where you get the meat and potatoes.

The latest from ThinkHQ polling.

The question. If a provincial referendum was held tomorrow asking Albertans if they would like to remain in Canada or become an independent country, how would you most likely vote?

The top number is just the appetizer.