Alberta separatists are making alternative plans to pressure Premier Danielle Smith’s government to call an independence referendum if a judge throws out their current efforts after a multiday hearing next week.
Mitch Sylvestre is organizing an independence petition under Alberta’s Citizen Initiative Act. Mr. Sylvestre’s campaign needs 178,000 signatures to force a constitutional referendum. Earlier this week, Mr. Sylvestre declared organizers had reached that goal, one month ahead of deadline.
In the middle of a trade war and Donald Trump’s threats to make Canada the 51st state of the United States, Canadians are watching in astonishment as figures close to the president embrace a minority separatist movement in the province of Alberta. Secret meetings with representatives of the U.S. State Department, the open support of figures from the MAGA movement, and the possibility of a referendum this fall — for which signatures are already being collected — paint a picture in which many see the shadow of foreign interference.
The group behind the Alberta independence petition said it has received the 177,732 signatures it needs to force a referendum.
Mitch Sylvestre, head of Stay Free Alberta, confirmed to the National Post that it has met the threshold. The petition still needs official approval from Elections Alberta, which will review the signatures according to the Citizen Initiative Act after the petition is submitted after the official deadline of May 2.
CALGARY – With about six weeks left to collect signatures, supporters of Alberta independence are working to gather enough names on a citizen-led petition that could trigger a province-wide referendum on whether Alberta should separate from Canada.
But even if the campaign succeeds and a majority of voters backed separation in a referendum, constitutional experts say the vote would only begin what could be a long and complicated process of negotiations with Ottawa, the provinces, and Indigenous nations.
Wow, that was a welcome change of direction for federalism, which has for decades now been drifting towards a stronger central government and weaker provincial governments.
The central theme of Premier Danielle Smith’s address to the province on Thursday evening was rebalancing Confederation, giving the provinces more control over matters that affect them most, such as health, education, immigration and judicial appointments.
It’s becoming clear that large parts of the Laurentian Elite have suddenly become nervous about the implications of Alberta’s unrest. After decades of turning a deaf ear to low rumblings of discontent, from somewhere beyond the Lakehead, the Andrew Coyne Brigade is in full force waving their law books, warning about why Alberta independence is against the natural law, God’s plan and more. @acoyne Smith has no mandate to hold a referendum… Among many, many other objections.
They couldn’t do it.
It was hoped their cause would make more of an effort than just burping up daily hysteria fuelled by social media.
But they couldn’t resist. And so we get to experience another eruption of phoney outrage.
VAUXHALL, Alberta—In much of Canada, President Trump’s provocations like making the country a 51st state are deeply unpopular. In this conservative, oil-rich province, Trump presents an opportunity.
Alberta is poised to hold a referendum on seceding from Canada later this year, and supporters of independence credit Trump’s disruptive energy for adding fuel to their movement. Alberta secessionists view Trump as a powerful ally in their quest to rattle Canada’s liberal politics and supercharge oil production—and no obstacle to their independence, even if statehood is unlikely.
Albertan independence is a remote but chilling prospect for Canada. The western province is a resources powerhouse that holds most of Canada’s crude oil. Only Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have bigger reserves of crude.
As discussion around Alberta separation continues, a new survey suggests many Canadians believe the United States would back the province if it chose to leave Confederation.
A Nanos Research survey commissioned by CTV News found four in five Canadians believe the U.S. would support Alberta separating from Canada. Respondents in the Prairie provinces reported the highest levels of that belief at 58.2 per cent, whereas less than 30 per cent of Quebec residents believe that it is likely that the U.S. would support Alberta separating.
Leaders of a right-wing group pushing a conservative Canadian province to secede and form a new nation say they have been meeting with Trump administration officials to discuss how their radical plan can benefit the U.S.
In three separate, highly unusual meetings with officials from the State and Treasury departments, they’ve discussed the logistics of Alberta breaking off from Canada, including switching over to U.S. currency and creating a new military.
First of all, let’s put the latest Angus Reid Institute survey on Alberta independence into perspective.
When the pollsters found just 29 per cent of Albertans support separation, the response by a lot of commentators was, “See, we told you Albertans don’t want to leave.”
But keep in mind that 29 per cent support from Albertans for leaving Confederation is exactly the same amount (29 per cent) as a poll earlier this month found in Quebec.
Seventy-one per cent of Canadians agree with B.C. Premier David Eby’s recent statement that “to go to a foreign country and to ask for assistance in breaking up Canada, there’s an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is treason,” according to a new poll from Canada Pulse Insights.
The prospect of Alberta leaving Canada is such a hot topic that the other potential “leavers” have been overlooked.
These are folks who would flee the province if independence goes forward in a serious way.
Probably ex-Torontonians who would prefer living in China’s 24th province..
Amid ongoing debate about provincial sovereignty, most Albertans would vote to stay in Canada, according to a new survey from the Angus Reid Institute.
Fewer than three in 10 Albertans, 29 per cent, said they would vote for separation if a referendum were held today. Most of those respondents said they are leaning toward that position rather than firmly committed.
While Quebec parties have long sought independence, the secret meetings by unelected Albertans with US officials have been branded treasonous by some
A separatist push for a referendum on independence from Canada. Meetings with foreign officials perceived to be sympathetic to their cause. Accusations of treason and sedition.
Ahead of a 1995 referendum, leaders of Quebec’s independence movement made a string of provocative overtures to foreign governments, including a trip by the province’s premier to France. In a move that outraged anglophone Canada, the mayor of Paris gave Quebec’s Jacques Parizeau a welcome befitting a national leader.
