“NATURAL” US PARTNER
Current polling indicates the separatists would lose. A Jan 23 Ipsos survey found just 28 per cent of Albertans would vote to secede.
The possible significance of interventions from Washington remains unclear, but Boily said: “It’s certain that the agitation south of the border has an impact on what is happening in Alberta.”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered veiled backing for Alberta’s independence last week.
“Alberta has a wealth of natural resources, but they won’t let them build a pipeline to the Pacific,” Bessent said.
“I think we should let them come down into the US, and Alberta is a natural partner for the US. They have great resources. The Albertans are very independent people.”
Earlier this month, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon had the Republican-supporting writer Brandon Weichert on his podcast.
“Alberta is the linchpin,” Weichert told Bannon.
“They’re getting out of the Canadian union, they are going to become an independent state. We’re gonna recognise them.”
ALL ABOUT OIL
Some at the roadhouse rally wore cowboy hats. Others, like Jesse Woodroof, had on baseball caps that said “Alberta Republic”.
Woodroof told AFP his ancestors arrived in what is now Canada “hundreds and hundreds of years” ago.
He voiced concern about “immigrants pouring into this country”, and implied that a sovereign Alberta would take a different approach.
Jennifer Wiebe – her daughter resting against her chest – said: “Alberta could be more prosperous and free on our own.”
While the views expressed may vary, conversations about Alberta independence typically circle back to oil.
Right-wing Premier Danielle Smith, an outspoken oil industry advocate who despised Trudeau’s leadership, has said she supports “Alberta sovereignty within a united Canada”.
Speaking on her weekend radio programme, Smith implied the motivation for independence has diminished because Ottawa appears open to a new pipeline.
“I’m forging a new relationship with Canada. We’ve got a new leader, we’ve got a new prime minister … and we seem to have common cause on trying to get a new pipeline built,” she said.
The leader of the separatist Bloc Quebecois, Yves-Francois Blanchet, drew smirks with his May critique of Alberta’s prospective independence.
“The first idea is to define oneself as a nation,” he said, adding that nations need “a culture of their own”.
“I am not sure that oil and gas qualifies to define a culture.”