Canada’s Alberta province has overwhelmingly rejected a plan to begin the process of seeking independence from Canada.
Canadian public broadcaster CBC projects a decisive victory for the federalist side, with official results showing more than 76% support for remaining in Canada after roughly a third of the votes had been counted.
According to unofficial results from the chief provincial electoral office, Elections Alberta, nearly 77% favored staying with Canada with roughly one million votes counted, whereas 23% sought independenced.
The nonbinding referendum asked residents whether they wanted to stay in Canada or start the legal steps needed for a future binding vote on separation. Although it was not a full-on referendum, a positive vote for the separatists would have put in motion further steps to pursue that end.
The vote marks the first such Canadian independence referendum held outside Quebec, where past independence movements have been driven by language and cultural differences.
Alberta’s independence movement was fueled by the influx of large numbers of Canadians angry about COVID-19 regulations, mixed with a high level of resentment toward Ottawa and Canada’s eastern provinces.
Settling the question of independence once and for all?
On Monday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, posted on social media that, “Albertans have voted for a stronger Canada in a united Canada.”
Smith will address Albertans on Tuesday evening to speak about the results of the vote.
Smith, who opposes independence from Canada, was forced to call the vote after being pressured from within her United Conservative Party and said she hoped that holding the vote would put the question of breaking away from Canada to rest for good.
Home to the world’s fourth-largest oil reserves, Alberta is largely rural and conservative.
Its independence campaign was largely fueled by economic grievance. The vast oil-rich state is almost double the size of Germany in terms of land mass but is much more sparsely populated, with around 5 million residents. Almost half of them live in its two main cities, Edmonton and Calgary.
Independence-minded Albertans feel that too much of their revenues go to the federal government and that leaders in Ottawa have been unfair to the province over energy and environmental policy.
The push for independence has also been actively fanned by US President Donald Trump, who has been exceedling belligerent towards one of America’s oldest and most-trusted allies, often ranting about making Canada the 51st US state as well as starting an unnecessary trade war that remains ongoing.
In the run-up to the vote, Alberta independence advocates held meetings at the US State Department in Washington, D.C., as well as receiving coaching from US Republicn political operatives. Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, called Alberta a “natural partner,” whereas Trump’s biggest donor, trillionaire Elon Musk, recently posted on X that Alberta “should separate” from Canada.
Monday’s result is a significant setback for separatist groups and their supporters and a much-needed win for Prime Minister Mark Carney as he attempts to keep the country unified amid the ongoing trade war with the US.
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