Discover Narcity
Get the latest and greatest stories every day in your inbox.
Alberta referendum expected to bring finality, but also more questions on separation
Questions to remain after Alberta separation vote
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
On Monday, Albertans vote on whether to stay in Canada or hold another binding referendum on quitting Canada.
If the vote goes as polls suggest, a majority of Albertans will mark an X to stay in Confederation, and Premier Danielle Smith has said if that’s so, she expects everyone to accept it and move on. Leaders of the independence movement contest that.
And political watchers are divided about whether separation — previously a fringe sentiment — will now be a prominent, permanent feature of Alberta’s political landscape, as in Quebec.
Julian Castro-Rea, a political-science professor at the University of Alberta who studies the separation debates in Quebec and Alberta, believes as long as Alberta feels alienated from the Canadian capital — feeling that Ottawa benefits from Alberta's resource economy without giving back — the movement will have fuel.
"Even if the referendum is lost, the westernization will still be around, because it's kind of a way which, traditionally, Albertans have related to the rest of Canada," says Castro-Rea, who believes western alienation may remain indefinitely.
Alberta's independence movement has been compared to Brexit and separation in Scotland, but the most obvious comparator is Quebec.
Earlier this month, Quebec elected a minority government led by the Parti Québécois, which has promised to call a third independence referendum to leave Canada, following votes in 1980 and 1995.
Experts say the two provinces differ in their catalysts for secession. Quebec and its francophone culture have developed over centuries. Alberta, by comparison, was created alongside Saskatchewan out of the division of the Northwest Territories in 1905.
Alberta's separatists are driven by western alienation rather than a deep-seated nationalist sentiment, like Quebec, experts say. That means it's difficult to see how the long-term future of the movement could pan out.
"They have different identity, different history, different language, as you know, and therefore they can claim, kind of, this historical legitimacy as the basis for their attempts for separation," Castro-Rea says.
Separatist sentiment has been sprinkled into Alberta's saucepan for the past half-century before coming to a boil in recent years. Premier Smith, who has voted to stay in Canada, has repeatedly criticized former prime minister Justin Trudeau's policies as oppressive to Western Canada's sovereignty and its energy-driven economy.
That criticism has softened against current Prime Minister Mark Carney, who referred to Alberta's bid for secession as a "dangerous bluff" on Thursday night. He also said a decisive result would "settle this question."
Andrew McDougall, an associate political science professor at the University of Toronto, says he sees Alberta's referendum as a way to garner political leverage with Ottawa, as Quebec has.
"This has sometimes been referred to in Quebec as the 'knife at the throat strategy,' where Quebec could sort of push its agenda because we've had that incredible threat of a referendum," he says.
But former UCP premier Jason Kenney, speaking in Edmonton earlier this week, said the knife analogy cuts both ways.
"The idea of making the threat by holding a knife to the throat of the federation is how you end up as a have-not province, like Quebec, instead of the ultimate have province like Alberta," he said.
"You want to talk about a lack of investor confidence? The next year, moving towards an actual vote on separation when the first one is won — the economic consequences would be catastrophic."
Political science professor Graeme Young says to understand Alberta’s future, one could look at Scotland.
Young, at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, grew up in Ontario and kept interest in Alberta's prospective separation from afar as Scotland bolsters another push to leave the United Kingdom.
He says he doesn't expect Alberta's separatist campaign will last. He believes the movement could deflate with a different federal political party in power. And he says it can’t draw from the same wellspring of national identity as exists in Scotland.
Young says Scotland's 2014 campaign was, in large part, defeated by uncertainty about the economics of independence, including pensions, currency, finances and its role in the European Union.
And while Scotland has been preparing for more than a decade for another run at independence, Alberta's movement is underprepared, Young says.
"(Alberta's case) has been put together quite hastily," he says. "It does not seem that they have invested as much time and energy into that case as one would expect for setting up a new country."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2026.
— With files from Lisa Johnson in Edmonton and The Associated Press
By Dayne Patterson | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Keep reading
Show less
B.C. votes for mayors and councillors before general election next week
B.C. votes in local elections as campaigns overlap
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
It’s voting day in British Columbia but if you are confused, you're probably not alone.
B.C. residents vote today for their local representatives on councils, school boards and other regional posts, choosing from 3,500 candidates across the province.
But advance voting in the provincial general election is also taking place, continuing until Oct. 21 ahead of final voting day on Oct. 24.
NDP Leader David Eby’s decision to call a snap election two years early and in the middle of the planned municipal election period has been denounced by local and opposition politicians.
The Union of B.C. Municipalities passed a resolution at its annual convention last month imploring Eby not to call an election during the local campaign period, but days later he set off the provincial vote.
Cori Ramsay, who was the president of the union at the time of the resolution, said since then that the two elections have caused voter confusion and local campaigns lost staff to provincial candidates.
Many cities and municipalities have nevertheless reported increased or even record turnout at advance polls, including Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, Kamloops, Surrey, Kelowna, Prince George, Cranbrook and View Royal, among others.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Keep reading
Show less
Crash involving semi-truck, bus and other vehicles closes Highway 99 in Surrey, B.C.
Crash closes Highway 99 in Surrey, B.C.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Police say a crash involving a semi-truck and trailer, a bus and several other vehicles has closed Highway 99 in both directions in Surrey, B.C.
Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton says in an email that the number and types of vehicles involved in the crash have not been confirmed and he did not have information on the type of bus or whether it was carrying any passengers at the time.
Houghton says firefighters and paramedics were at the scene, but he couldn't confirm whether anyone has been seriously injured in the crash.
He says parts of the highway would likely be closed for several hours and police would issue any further significant updates later Friday or on Saturday.
The DriveBC website shows the route is closed between the Highway 91 interchange and King George Boulevard in south Surrey.
The driver information service says drivers should expect major delays, with no estimated timeline for the highway's reopening.
BC Emergency Health Services did not immediately respond to a request for details about its response to the crash Friday evening.
TransLink, Metro Vancouver's transit operator, directed a question about whether one of its buses was involved in the crash to B.C. Highway Patrol, while the Mounties referred a request back to the Surrey Police Service.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Keep reading
Show less
Un ours noir a été aperçu dans les rues d'une municipalité de Lanaudière
La Ville appelle à la prudence.
Des résident.es d'une petite municipalité de Lanaudière ont eu toute une surprise durant leur lunch alors qu'iels ont vu un ours noir roder dans la ville. L'animal aurait été aperçu dans les environs du rang de l'Église et du domaine du Villageois, à Saint-Liguori, vers midi, le 12 juillet 2022.
Dans une publication sur Facebook, la Municipalité a tenu à rappeler aux citoyen.nes les consignes de sécurité et les gestes à prendre afin de diminuer les risques : « Soyez prudents dans les secteurs boisés de la municipalité. Assurez-vous de faire du bruit pour signaler votre présence. »
Contacté par Narcity Québec un employé du bureau municipal a affirmé que l'ours n'aurait pas été revu depuis hier. Bien que les agent.es de la faune aient été contacté.es par la Ville, ceux-ci et celles-ci ne se sont pas encore déplacé.es sur les lieux au moment d’écrire ces lignes.
Selon le ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs, il y aurait 70 000 ours noirs sur le territoire de la province. Ce mammifère est connu comme un animal craintif, à priori rarement agressif, mais très glouton. Il ne faut donc surtout pas laisser de la nourriture à des endroits qui lui serait facile d'accès.
Voici les consignes de prévention du ministère afin de diminuer les risques d'attirer un ours noir :
La Ville de Saint-Liguori invite les citoyen.nes à communiquer toute information utile pour signaler l'animal par téléphone au bureau municipal, soit au 450 753-3570 poste 0.