Quebec sovereigntists see fundamental rift with Alberta separatists
With just days before Alberta’s vote on an independence referendum, longtime Quebec sovereigntists are distancing themselves from the western province's separatists.
Question 10 of 10 on Monday’s referendum ballot asks whether Alberta should remain in Canada or if the government should start the legal process to hold a subsequent, binding referendum on separation.
Advance polls opened Tuesday and run until Saturday.
Quebecers may have a sense of déjà vu after voting on a similar question in 1980, when René Lévesque’s Parti Québécois asked whether the province should begin negotiations to leave Confederation. Nearly 60 per cent of Quebec voters were against Lévesque's proposal.
A second referendum followed in 1995, narrowly won by the "No" side. But ardent sovereigntists see profound differences in the two movements.
Marie-Anne Alepin, president of the Société St-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal, a prominent Quebec nationalist group, believes Alberta is using the threat of separatism as leverage in negotiations with Ottawa. She sees the referendum as a means of pressure rather than a genuine desire to form a country.
“They want a bigger role within Canada and we want to leave,” she said. “They want more control over their oil and gas … we don't want pipelines.”
But that hasn't stopped some leaders in the Alberta separatist movement from claiming common cause.
Quebec elected the PQ — which has promised a third independence referendum — to a minority government on Oct. 5, leading figures in the Alberta separatist movement to rally behind premier-designate Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and declare him a possible ally.
"Quebec rejected the status quo today," wrote columnist Cory Morgan — a founding member of the Alberta Independence Party in 2001 — on social media after the PQ's victory. "Alberta can do the same in two weeks by choosing to send a message with Option 2 on Question 10.”
Alberta separatist Jeffrey Rath also took to social media the day after the provincial election, saying that "for the first time in history, Alberta Independence will have the support of the elected government of Quebec." He also congratulated St-Pierre Plamondon and "the country of Quebec."
The two, along with lawyer Keith Wilson, lamented that Quebec’s quest for independence is seen as legitimate while they say Alberta separatists are sneered at.
During a visit to Calgary last year, St-Pierre Plamondon said he would recognize an independent Alberta should the province vote to separate. Rath said he met with the PQ leader during that visit.
But while they believe in the democratic process of a referendum, many Quebec sovereigntists do not identify with the Alberta separatists.
Former PQ leader Jean-François Lisée did not mince words when asked about Monday’s referendum.
"It's mostly a waste because defeat is certain," he said. “There's really nothing much to gain from watching the Alberta independence movement, except maybe negative lessons."
It’s a feeling shared by other sovereigntists.
Louise Harel, who was a PQ minister during Quebec's 1995 sovereignty referendum and later served as interim leader of the party, agrees with Lisée. Both say the Quebec and Alberta sovereigntist movements are fundamentally different.
In their view, Quebec sovereigntists are motivated to preserve their cultural and linguistic identity, while Alberta separatists are motivated by the economy and political libertarianism. They also see a desire for Alberta to get closer to the United States, while Quebecers are wary of talk of assimilation.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has repeatedly said she is against secession, while PQ leaders have openly called for sovereignty.
"In Quebec, the idea is to give a unique historical nation in North America, which … has valiantly resisted assimilation, the powers it needs to survive in a globalized world,” said Harel. “But there is no such issue of identity or culture in Alberta.”
While sovereigntist Quebecers also feel economically disadvantaged within Canada, Lisée said, the sentiment isn’t at the core of the movement. He also stressed that Quebec's sovereigntist parties have historically been social-democrat, while the movement in Alberta seems tied to conservatism.
Daniel Turp, a Université de Montréal law professor who represented both the Bloc Québécois and the PQ, sees differences in the referendum process itself. Quebec’s two independence referendums included a single question on sovereignty.
As a result, there were mass mobilizations from both federalist and sovereigntist factions for weeks.
Public support for independence also varies widely between the two provinces.
On the eve of the 1995 referendum, public opinion was split evenly in the polls. Three days before Quebecers cast their ballots, Canadians from across the country made their way to Montreal to urge them to vote against independence.
Poll aggregator 338Canada shows less than 25 per cent support for Alberta to leave Canada as of Oct. 11.
“There hasn’t been a love-in in Alberta yet,” Turp said. “Maybe we’re not as worried because the polls show the option to remain will win.”
More than 90 per cent of registered voters cast a ballot in the 1995 referendum, which federalists won with 50.58 per cent of the vote.
“That’s the kind of voter turnout you see in countries where voting is mandatory,” said Harel. “I would be extremely surprised if voter turnout in the Alberta referendum were the same.”
But the sovereigntists do not reject the Alberta separatist movement entirely. All four said they sympathize with the desire for autonomy and self-determination.
"If Alberta were to vote yes, and then Ottawa would say, 'well, you can't leave,' we will be on the side of Alberta," said Lisée.
Harel added that while she does not see ideological similarities between separatists in Quebec and Alberta, the democratic process must be respected. She said that the Alberta referendum can give legitimacy to the one promised by the PQ.
Asked if they worry that a no vote on Monday could affect the PQ's promised referendum, all four said no.
Alepin believes the two movements are too different for Albertans to influence Quebecers’ appetite for sovereignty.
Meanwhile, Lisée predicts that “the defeat of the yes side in Alberta will be a negative but very insignificant factor in (Quebec's) referendum debate.”
If Alberta stays within Canada, Turp believes the province may be inspired by Quebec’s approach to negotiating more autonomy with Ottawa.
“And then they can organize a second referendum, like we did,” he added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2026.
By Erika Morris | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Author Steven Galloway concludes testimony at Vancouver defamation trial
Author and former University of British Columbia creative writing chair Steven Galloway has concluded testifying in his defamation lawsuit trial in Vancouver.
Galloway, who alleges the defendants defamed him by publishing unproven allegations of sexual assault, took questions from Glynnis Kirchmeier, a defendant in the case who is representing herself and attending the trial remotely.
The former UBC student pressed Galloway about whether he believed she had been involved with an advocacy group for victims of sexual violence and harassment, and had also contacted other defendants, including A.B., another former student who made the allegations against Galloway.
Galloway says he found it "unlikely" Kirchmeier wasn't involved with the group because she was on one of its fundraising pages, and he recalled becoming nauseated about one of her Tweets, and wondering "why is this person I’ve never met calling me a rapist?"
The court heard during the brief hearing in B.C. Supreme Court on Thursday that the next witness is expected to be Ronna Syed, a producer for the CBC program the "Fifth Estate."
Galloway, who has been testifying since last week, said earlier in the trial that Syed was the first journalist to call him after the allegations surfaced, and says he told her "no comment."
Galloway filed the defamation lawsuit in 2018 but several defendants have settled with him and published public apologies.
The author of "The Cellist of Sarajevo" alleges his career was destroyed by the allegations of rape and sexual assault, which he denies and were found unsubstantiated in a report by a former B.C. Supreme Court judge.
The court heard last week that A.B.'s defence no longer includes an assertion she was assaulted by Galloway, but rather that she reported the alleged assaults.
Galloway has testified he felt ashamed at having an affair with A.B., who cannot be named due to a publication ban, but there was no prohibition on sexual relationships between faculty and students at UBC and he knew of "numerous" other examples.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2026.
By Darryl Greer | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
B.C.'s Eby says proposed Indigenous land transfer legislation is about saving money
British Columbia NDP Leader David Eby is defending draft plans by his previous government to limit the compensation of forest companies when land is transferred to First Nations.
Confidential documents published in the Northern Beat, an online publication, say Eby's government was planning to transfer about 400 parcels of Crown land to First Nations, while limiting compensation for companies with timber rights on the land.
Eby says the transfers reflect existing treaties and other commitments under the process of reconciliation, some of them dating back decades, and the proposed legislation was about reducing costs for taxpayers.
The documents say the current law requires the government to compensate forestry firms but "given ongoing fiscal constraints" that would create substantial barriers to completing land returns.
A spokesperson for the Eby campaign says the draft legislation would limit compensation, and if less than five per cent of the existing logging rights were transferred, those holders would not receive any compensation at all.
The briefing notes, dated Sept. 10, were revealed just days before the provincial election on Oct. 24.
The New Democrat platform doesn't mention the plans, while forest companies needed to sign non-disclosure agreements if they wanted to see them.
Eby says those types of agreements are standard practice, and he rejected suggestions of secrecy.
A spokesperson for the campaign says cabinet approved engagement with stakeholders in July but the proposal was draft, not final legislation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2026.
By Wolfgang Depner | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.