EDMONTON — For the first time, Albertans get a say on leaving Canada — stay in Confederation, or set the legal process for a binding separation vote in motion.
Elections Alberta set voting hours at 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mountain time on Monday, October 19. Each elector gets 10 ballots, one for each question. The last ballot voters see is Question 10, on whether Alberta should remain a Canadian province or start the legal process required to hold a binding referendum on separation, according to Reuters.
The vote is nonbinding. A simple majority in favour of the separation path could trigger that legal process, Reuters reported, but the ballot itself would not take Alberta out of Canada.
The other nine questions do not bind the government either. They deal with immigration, voter ID rules and who can use provincial services such as education, social care and health care, plus constitutional changes Alberta wants in its dealings with Ottawa, according to Reuters.
Who can vote? A voter has to be a Canadian citizen, at least 18 on Election Day and ordinarily resident in the province, Elections Alberta said. Advance voting wrapped up Saturday, October 17. Special ballots are already in — applications closed in September.
The separation question landed on the ballot in May, when Premier Danielle Smith announced it would be added, saying it was “time to have a vote, understand the will of Albertans on this subject, and move on,” according to Reuters. Smith says she voted for Alberta to remain in Canada during advance polling, in a video she posted on social media.
Polls have consistently shown most Albertans want to stay. An Angus Reid poll released Friday found 66% of Albertans planned to vote to remain in Canada, Reuters reported, and surveys through the fall put support for remaining at roughly 70%.
The separatist campaign has been driven by economic grievances. Supporters argue Alberta’s energy wealth subsidizes poorer parts of the country and that federal bureaucracy in Ottawa has stifled the province’s economy, according to Reuters. “Canada has an imbalanced system which feeds the central population and government at the expense of the outlying producing provinces such as Alberta,” said Cory Morgan, founder of a pro-separation advertising organization called Pathway to Independence, according to Reuters.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, who grew up in Alberta, spent much of the past week campaigning in the province for the “stay” side, urging supporters to vote and appealing to national pride, Reuters reported.
Even a decisive “remain” result may not end the debate. “This issue is not going away now. Because the separatists are mobilized. They’ve networked. They’re connected,” said Duane Bratt, a political scientist at Mount Royal University in Calgary, according to Reuters.
Elections Alberta said the unofficial count of Election Day ballots begins after voting closes Monday, with the advance and special ballot count starting at 5 p.m. Unofficial results will be posted as counts are completed, and the official results will be announced on October 29 at 10 a.m.
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