Voters in Canada’s oil-rich Alberta province were deciding on Monday whether to begin a process that could lead to independence, testing national unity as Canadians rally against US President Donald Trump’s trade war and threats to claim Canada as the 51st US state.
Monday’s vote is not a direct referendum on independence. Alberta, home to most of Canada’s proven oil reserves – the fourth largest in the world – will decide whether to remain a province or begin the legal process towards a future referendum on separation.
More than 1.35 million Alberta residents, or 43 per cent of eligible voters, cast advance or special ballots ahead of Monday’s referendum, an unusually high level of early participation that underscores the intense interest in the province’s future. Polls close at 8pm local time.
Alberta is Canada’s oil heartland and cowboy country, a conservative stronghold whose political culture has long had more in common with the American West than much of Canada. Resentment towards Ottawa runs deep but has not traditionally translated into widespread support for independence.