Albertans Set to Vote on Separation from Canada Amid Decades-Long Alienation
Albertans will head to the polls on October 19 to vote on whether there should be a future, binding referendum on separating from Canada. The move comes after decades of western alienation.
The issue began in 1980 when the federal government introduced the National Energy Program, which kept domestic oil prices below world levels to promote Canadian energy security and increase the federal share of oil revenues. Alberta viewed it as an unjustified attack and a federal money grab, sparking discontent with Ottawa that continued for decades.
In recent years, the anti-Ottawa mood has ramped up in Alberta. In 2019, the United Conservative Party (UCP) under Jason Kenney won power, capitalizing on discontent over federal rules and policies deemed to impair Alberta's ability to create wealth, particularly in oil and gas.
However, while Premier Kenney fought for more independence from Ottawa, he remained a staunch advocate for Alberta staying in Confederation. His successor, Danielle Smith, took a different approach. She won government in the 2023 election on a platform of further asserting independence from Ottawa and refusing to characterize separatists as fringe extremists.
On April 28, 2025, Mark Carney and the Liberals defeated the federal Conservatives to win a minority government. Two weeks later, Smith announced a panel to discuss Alberta's future in Canada, saying her government wouldn't itself put separation on a ballot but would honour a successful citizen petition seeking such a vote.
A 'Forever Canadian' petition was launched by former Alberta Progressive Conservative deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk, collecting over 400,000 names, enough to validate the petition. However, its fate remained tied up in a legislature committee as Smith questioned whether Lukaszuk gathered the names for a referendum or as a trigger for a vote among legislature members.
Separatist Mitch Sylvestre of the Alberta Prosperity Project was given the green light by election officials to launch a petition asking whether Alberta should leave Canada. Months later, the petition was deemed successful, having gathered about 223,000 signatures.