Some people in the Canadian province of Alberta are pushing for independence. Called “Alberta separatists,” they want their province to become its own country. Now they’ve gathered enough support to force a vote on the issue.
In Alberta, a petition with signatures from 10% of registered voters triggers a direct vote about a political issue. This vote is called a referendum. To bring about a vote on Alberta’s separation, activists needed 178,000 signatures. They submitted nearly 302,000.
“We’re just tired of being taken advantage of by the east,” Red Deer resident James Dunsmuir told Global News before signing. “A lot of our money goes east and not a lot comes back . . . I think we’d just be better off ruling ourselves.”
On Monday, Mitch Sylvestre arrived at the elections office in Edmond. He’s the head of a separatist group called Stay Free Alberta. He led a convoy of seven trucks to deliver the final signatures. More than 300 supporters joined him. They waved the provincial flag and chanted, “Alberta strong.”
“This day is historic in Alberta history,” Sylvestre says. “It’s the first step to the next step.”
Danielle Smith is Alberta’s premier (head of government in a Canadian province). She says that once the signatures are verified, a referendum could be scheduled for as early as October.
Smith does not personally support separation from Canada, but she does want Alberta to have more independence.
“We don’t ask for special treatment,” she says. “We just want to be free to develop and export that incredible wealth of resources we have. Freedom to choose how we provide health care, education, and other needed social services to our people, even if it’s done differently than what Ottawa has in mind.”
Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University, doubts the separatists can win a referendum.
“Right now, support for independence in Alberta is rather low,” he says. “Less than 30% and much lower if we only focus on hard core supporters.”
Even with a “yes” vote , Alberta wouldn’t become independent immediately. Negotiations with the federal Canadian government would follow.
Some Indigenous groups are already opposing the referendum in courts. In the 1800s, the Canadian government made treaties with Indigenous tribes, assuring them continued freedom to hunt, fish, and trap certain lands.
The groups argue that allowing the referendum is a betrayal of the treaties, since an international border created around Alberta would restrict their movement.
