Long lineups in central Alberta to sign petition for province to leave Canada

[RoseTrellis]

Source: CBC News

Large crowds of people lined up around the block outside a pair of packed community halls in central Alberta on Wednesday night, to attend town meetings focused on the idea of the province seeking independence from Canada.

The events were held in Red Deer and Eckville and were organized by the Stay Free Alberta campaign. Attendees could hear more about the campaign for a referendum on independence and also sign a petition pushing for such a referendum.

A common theme among people who showed up at the events was a desire for change.

“I don’t think that we’re heard here in Alberta as they are in the East, and we want to see some change,” said Sara Moberg, who lined up to sign the petition in Red Deer.


Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/red-deer-alberta-independence-petition-9.7047779

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What’s the deal with this?
I’m just learning about this now.
Friends to the north, what is the end game for these separatists?

[Americanme]

1. If Alberta leaves Canada, how will they defend against trump's hostile takeover?

He'll probably say Alberta is part of Montana, or some such nonsense.

[applegrove]

22. The Premier of Alberta is purposely tanking the public healthcare

system so the private industry can take over and give really bad care. She's a Trump fan. She's been to Mar a Lago. I think the separatists have only about 30% support. This is smoke to hide the changes to things like healthcare. I'm sure the Premier, Daniel Smith, would love to get taken over by Trump. She could then steal and self deal and become a billionaire that she can't do now or she would face criminal charges.

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. Failure is the end game

The referendum, which is nonbinding, will fail by a large margin.

Note:
The population of Red Deer where these “long lines” were reported, is about 110,000.

The population of Alberta is five million.

[Chasstev365]

3. Brixit 2? Is Russian social media behind this?

[underpants]

5. That's what I was thinking too

[SunSeeker]

4. They represent 20% of Albertans, like the 20% hard right MAGAts we have.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-separation-poll-9.7039022

Rural white people who don't want to pay taxes and want to "Drill Baby Drill," to Hell with those pesky environmental regulations. Sounds very familiar.

[Dave Bowman]

6. Yup, Canada has stupid rednecks too.

[ret5hd]

7. spouse and i have a game we play when in Canada:

we ask every waiter/counterperson/shopkeeper/etc a question:

would you trade your healthcare system for ours?

the ONLY place we got a yes answer was in Alberta.

[area51]

18. If they did trade their healthcare system for ours, they'd run screaming back to Canada in short order. n/t

[kimbutgar]

8. I wonder if there is an American or Russian connection to this funding this campaign?

I could see this administration or Russia like they did with Brexit trying to undermine Canada by encouraging this with paid propagandists.

[Exp]

9. It's the Oil, Gas and Mining segment of CAN. No wonder... see below

Alberta's economy is fundamentally built on its vast natural resources, particularly oil, natural gas, and mining, making the energy sector its biggest GDP contributor and leading export, although agriculture, manufacturing, and services also play significant roles. This resource wealth drives high per capita GDP but also creates significant economic sensitivity to global energy price fluctuations, with oil and gas representing the majority of exports, while diversification into areas like technology, forestry, and finance continues

[fujiyamasan]

10. It's Alberta

It’s basically Canada’s Texas.

[ancianita]

11. MOST ALBERTANS (around 70%) DO NOT SUPPORT SEPARATION, but many are frustrated and feel disrespected by Ottawa,

making the topic potent. Indigenous leaders oppose separation without their consent, highlighting that Alberta is on treaty lands and federal negotiations are crucial.


Albertan separatist sentiment is deeply intertwined with the oil and gas industry, with proponents arguing that federal policies (like emissions caps) harm the sector, leading to feelings that Alberta's prosperity, tied to oil, is under attack by a hostile Ottawa, though majorities of Albertans don't support separation, and some see the talk as a political tactic by leaders like Premier Smith to appease the oil-focused base.

While oil industry advocates support the narrative, the movement also involves genuine frustration over federal resource control and a distinct cultural identity, with some analysts viewing it as a long-term strategy to assert provincial power over oil, as detailed in The Narwhal.

The situation in Alberta is NOT complicated: The majority of Albertans are being hijacked by Big Oil's narrative.

[OhioTim]

12. If It Happened

then the rest of Canada to its east and west could prohibit the people of Alberta from using Canadian highways, trapping them with their only exit to the United States.

[Javaman]

13. Albert aka the texas of Canada. nt

[Tasmanian Devil]

14. So if they leave, does this mean Canada would have a vacancy?

We can all think of states that would compete to take it's place

[travelingthrulife]

15. It's MAGA level stupid.

[Buddyzbuddy]

16. Quick, has anybody seen Farage?

He was Putin's toad behind Brexit and I seem to recall he was behing the push to divide California.

[Alice Kramden]

17. News to me - thanks for the post

Very informative

[Clouds Passing]

19. Canadians, set them straight before you end up like u.s.

[GiqueCee]

20. I wonder...

... how much of this dissatisfaction is enflamed by Premier Danielle Smith's incendiary rhetoric, and how much is prompted by genuinely distorted imbalances in policies engendered in Ottawa that directly affect Albertans.
Smith is a hard-right bomb thrower by all accounts, and so, in my view, quite worthy of mistrust. I have a cousin who lives in Calgary, and she doesn't have anything good to say about her.

[Spazito]

21. This is a fringe group and long lineups mean little in this regard...

both places mentioned in the article are rabid rightwing ridings. Alberta has always been an anomaly in Canada which is why it is known as 'Texas North' and yet the majority of Albertans do not support separation. This is the rabid rightwing Con party's pipedream, it has been for years.

Another point to take into consideration is long lines would be made up of both pro-separation and anti-separation proponents.

[North Coast Lawyer]

23. Same old BS.

I grew up in northern Alberta. There have been people agitating for Alberta's separation since the 1970s. They don't have the votes. Because of the way ridings (electoral districts) are drawn rural Alberta is able to control the Provincial Legislature. However, in a one person one vote referendum Edmonton and Calgary will carry the day.

[AllyCat]

24. Why? What on earth do they think they will accomplish with this?

Are they mad?