EDMONTON, Alberta — Voters in Alberta go to the polls Monday to decide whether the oil-rich Canadian province should begin the legal process toward a binding referendum on leaving Canada, the first time the province has put the question of separation to a public vote, BBC News and NPR reported.
Premier Danielle Smith called the vote after a grassroots group gathered about 300,000 signatures on a petition seeking a binding referendum on separation, the BBC reported. A rival petition opposing separation drew more than 400,000 signatures in a province of about five million people.
The key question asks: “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?” Voters are also deciding nine other questions, several of them on whether the province should have more control over immigration.
Polls suggest most Albertans will vote to stay, and pollsters generally estimate that about one in five support separation, according to NPR. Smith, who opposes separation herself, has said she will respect the result; if voters back moving ahead, a binding referendum could come as soon as 2027, she has said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney returned to his hometown of Edmonton last week to urge Albertans to stay. “A vote against Canada is a dangerous bluff that will lead to years of deep uncertainty and lost opportunities for Albertans and Canadians,” he told a unity rally.
Separatists argue that Ottawa’s environmental policies have stifled Alberta’s oil and gas sector. A government-commissioned University of Calgary report estimated that separating could cost as much as 170 billion Canadian dollars over five years, NPR reported. In May, an Alberta court ruled that the separatist petition violated Indigenous rights because First Nations had not been consulted; the province has appealed.
Ballots are counted by hand. Counting begins no earlier than 8 p.m. local time (7 p.m. Pacific), with the separation question tallied first, and officials have said its result should be available in the early hours of Tuesday, the BBC reported.
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