A few rural Alberta ridings see near-split votes on vote over future of Alberta in Canada

In some rural communities votes for remaining in the country or pursuing a binding referendum on separation were far closer than the rest of the province.

A few rural ridings saw nearly split results, while the majority of ridings in Calgary, Edmonton and other areas in the province voted to remain in Canada, with 1,418,912 of Albertans who cast a ballot voting to remain in Canada and 461,503 voting in support of a referendum.

Three ridings, for example, had much closer results than the rest of the province.

In Central Peace-Notley, 5,068 voted Option 1 while 5,275 voted for Option 2 and in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre saw 12,098 vote Option 1 and 12,459 vote Option 2. In Premier Danielle Smith’s riding of Brooks-Medicine Hat, 13,842 voted Option 1 and 8,073 voted Option 2.

However, most rural regions voted to stay, points out Mount Royal University political science professor Lori Williams.

“It’s clear that in almost every area of the province, there is more support for remaining than there is for the second referendum,” she said.

Those who did vote for Option 2 also weren’t necessarily voting for separation, Williams said.

“The other thing that is important to note in this context is that according to polling, those who voted for option two or were planning to vote for option two were mostly wanting to send Ottawa a message (and) not necessarily wanting to leave,” Williams said. “Because of the ambivalence involved in it, it wasn’t necessarily a separation endorsement, but rather an improvement in the relationship.”

Williams said the results from the questions one to nine shows that there is a split, but also shows that the majority agree on Alberta’s future in Canada.

The closer responses to the nine other questions could potentially create more division than Question 10, she said.

Public opinion polling shows getting a better deal with Ottawa is not  a priority for most Albertan, Williams said.

“Only about 10 per cent of Albertans think that’s what the government should be focused on now. Many more think that affordability, healthcare and housing are the kinds of things that should be focused on and many Albertans are frustrated or even angry that they’ve been dragged into a process that distracts from the issues that are most important to them,” she said.

Williams said she the referendum decision will likely have an impact on the future of the UCP and Danielle Smith’s future with the party. The danger of being associated with separatism and referendums has ultimately been pretty unpopular with the public, she said,

“I think it’ll be very interesting to watch, particularly the AGM, which it appears that the premier is very much focused on,” Williams said. “Some of those that are angry with her are focused on that AGM and those who want to take back control, if you like, of the party at a more moderate temperature, they’re looking to the AGM to try to push things in a different direction. It’ll be interesting to watch.”