Canada’s oil province has given its separatists a clear answer. In Monday’s referendum, voters in Alberta backed staying in the federation by a margin of about three to one. With close to two-thirds of the ballots tallied overnight, the count stood at 1,213,088 for remaining against 386,557 for starting the constitutional steps towards a binding vote on secession. Broadcasters, CBC among them, projected the outcome shortly after midnight local time.
Premier Danielle Smith had put the question on the ballot herself, although she never campaigned for leaving. A citizens’ petition carrying some 300,000 signatures had demanded a binding separation vote; a judge stopped it because First Nations had not been consulted, yet Smith pressed ahead with a ballot of her own. A rival petition in favour of Canada collected more than 400,000 names.
On election night the premier wrote on X that Albertans had chosen “a stronger Alberta in a united Canada”. She had promised earlier that there would be no second attempt while she leads the province, and she plans a televised address on Tuesday evening. Mark Carney, speaking for the federal government, welcomed what he described as “a clear choice” by the province.
The independence camp, which accuses the federal government of strangling the oil and gas sector with climate rules, is not giving up. Jeffrey Rath, a Calgary lawyer and one of its loudest voices, insisted the campaign “isn’t stopping”. Some separatists now hope to unseat Smith as leader of the United Conservative Party, where support for a break is noticeably stronger than in the wider electorate.
Nine further questions, five on immigration and four on constitutional reform, are still being counted, with results due by Wednesday. Elections Alberta will only certify the numbers on 29 October. Canada has been here before: Quebec voted on sovereignty in 1980 and again in 1995, and both attempts failed.
