MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Alberta overwhelmingly rejects starting the path to an independence referendum from Canada

The question did not ask directly about independence, but whether the provincial government should begin “the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution”

Voters in the Canadian province of Alberta on Monday overwhelmingly rejected having their government begin the process of calling a binding referendum on independence from Canada, according to preliminary results. With more than half the votes counted, around 76% chose for Alberta to remain a Canadian province, against about 24% who backed starting down the path to separation. Official results will be known on Thursday.

The question did not ask directly about independence, but whether the provincial government should begin “the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution” to hold a binding referendum on separation. Public broadcaster CBC projected victory for the remain option shortly after polls closed.

“Albertans made a clear choice. They chose unity, to build together, and to take care of each other. Above all, Albertans chose Canada,” said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, of the United Conservative Party, welcomed voters’ support for “a stronger Alberta in a united Canada”. Smith had said before the vote that, with this outcome, there would be no separation referendum while she was in office.

Separatist leaders, however, struck a defiant tone. “Our movement isn’t stopping and we’re continuing to move forward,” Calgary lawyer Jeffrey Rath told the BBC, describing the vote as a “first step”. Asked whether they would keep pushing for votes until they got the result they wanted, he replied: “Why not?”

Albertans also voted on nine other questions, five on immigration, such as whether the province should take more control over it or restrict non-citizens’ access to some social services, and four on constitutional reform. The separatist movement draws on frustration with the federal government over the sharing of the province’s oil wealth and over provincial powers. Quebec held two independence referendums, in 1980 and 1995; the second was lost by a narrow margin.