EDMONTON, Alberta: Voters in oil-rich Alberta province overwhelmingly backed remaining in Canada, with referendum results Tuesday delivering a boost to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s push for national unity as US President Donald Trump’s trade war and annexation threats rally Canadians around their country.
With more than 1.8 million votes counted so far in 81 percent of areas and locations, 75 percent of voters supported remaining in Canada, while 25 percent backed beginning a process toward separation, according to unofficial results from Elections Alberta.
The referendum wasn’t a direct vote on independence, but approval would have set Alberta on a path toward a future vote on separation from Canada.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday before a Cabinet meeting in Ottawa, Carney noted that the roughly one-quarter of Albertans who backed beginning the separation process voted for another referendum, not independence itself.
“Approximately one quarter voted in favor of a process,” Carney said.
“The result is absolutely clear. It’s a vast majority in favor of staying in Canada. And now is the time to work together for all Albertans and all Canadians,” he said.
Carney said he spoke with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on Tuesday morning about the referendum’s results and greater federal-provincial cooperation, including immigration. He said their first priority was supporting victims and families affected by the deadly military training fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright.
Alberta’s separatists, however, saw a silver lining.
“It is fair to say that at least a quarter of Albertans feel that Alberta needs to be treated better,” said Keith Wilson, a leader of the separatist movement.
Smith welcomed the early results, saying they showed widespread support for remaining in Canada.
“Albertans have voted for a stronger Alberta in a united Canada,” Smith posted on social media.
Smith, who called the referendum amid pressure from separatists within her governing United Conservative Party, or UCP, despite opposing independence, said that she would address the province Tuesday evening about the results and Alberta’s future.
“We are a solid country that’s united from coast to coast to coast,” Thomas Lukaszuk, a former Alberta deputy premier who led the Forever Canadian campaign against separation, told supporters.
Results were delayed after late openings forced more than 100 polling stations to extend voting hours Monday.
Alberta, home to the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserves, is cowboy country and a conservative stronghold whose political culture has long had more in common with the American West than much of Canada. Resentment toward Canada’s federal government in Ottawa runs deep, but hasn’t traditionally translated into widespread support for independence.
Despite the overwhelming rejection, separatist leaders have said they turned a fringe cause into a movement that won’t disappear.
Separatist parties traditionally attracted only 1 percent or 2 percent of the vote, former Premier Jason Kenney said. Anger over COVID-19 restrictions helped mobilize activists who later embraced the separatist movement, he said.
Trump’s trade war and threats to make Canada the 51st US state have helped Carney rally support in Alberta, where Liberal prime ministers have historically been unpopular.
At a separatist referendum night gathering at an Edmonton restaurant, the crowd fell quiet as results rolled in.
“We’re not going anywhere,” said Jeff Rath of the Alberta Prosperity Project. “We’ve dominated the conversation in the last year. We’ve been educating Albertans on the benefits of independence, and we’re going to continue moving forward.”
Rath had said he would be thrilled with 30 percent support. He wants Smith ousted as UCP leader and said the party could splinter, potentially creating a new pro-independence party.
Edmonton voter Shawn Campbell said he voted to begin the separation process even though he doesn’t want Alberta to leave Canada.
“It sends a message to Ottawa that Albertans are not happy,” he said.
Dustin Degenhardt, a voter in the town of Wainwright, said that Albertans have long been mistreated by Canada’s federal government.
“Alberta has essentially been treated as, you know, a colony,” he said after voting Monday. “They want to take and take and take from us, and not return anything.”
Dave Malka, 59, of Edmonton, criticized spending money on a “referendum on a referendum” rather than health care.
With Trump threatening Canada, Malka said, “It seems to be happening at the absolute worst time when we should be united; instead we’re fighting among ourselves.”