Smith Rules Out Another Alberta Separation Vote
After about three in four Albertans voted to remain in Canada in the unofficial count, Premier Danielle Smith used a televised address to promise no new separation vote while she is premier and to pursue the other questions' reforms "within the political and legal institutions of our nation." Official results are due October 29.
Albertans voted by roughly three to one to keep their province in Canada. In the unofficial count from Elections Alberta, with 5,079 of 5,583 voting places reporting, 1,468,227 people voted for Alberta to remain a province and 484,806 voted for the provincial government to start the legal process toward a binding referendum on separating. That is about 75% to 25%.
The question would not by itself have taken Alberta out of Canada. A win for the second option would have started the process toward a second, binding vote.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, who grew up in Edmonton, said: "Albertans made a clear choice. They chose unity, to build together, and to take care of each other. Above all, Albertans chose Canada." Premier Danielle Smith said: "Albertans have voted for a stronger Alberta in a united Canada." In a televised address she said she would not hold another referendum on separation while she is premier. Separatist leaders said they will keep pushing.
Counting continues on nine other questions. Official results are due October 29.
Edmonton, Alberta — Premier Danielle Smith said she will not hold another referendum on separation while she is premier, after Albertans voted by about three to one to remain a province of Canada, according to unofficial results from Elections Alberta.
With 5,079 of 5,583 voting places reporting, the count on the separation question stood at 1,468,227 votes for remaining, or 75.2%, and 484,806 for starting the separation process, or 24.8%. Elections Alberta counts a voting place as reporting once any of its questions is in, and every ballot is counted by hand. The results are unofficial; official results are due October 29.
What the vote decided
The separation question, the 10th of 10 on the ballot, asked whether Alberta should remain a province or whether the provincial government should "commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada." The remain side's win means that process does not start.
Support for remaining ran ahead in almost every part of the province, including most rural districts. In a few the vote was close. In Central Peace-Notley, 6,506 voted for the separation process and 6,337 to remain, and the separation side also led narrowly in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre, according to the Elections Alberta count. In Smith's own district, Brooks-Medicine Hat, the count was 13,934 to 8,126 for remaining.
Carney and Smith
Carney said in a statement that the result means "Albertans and all Canadians will move forward together with renewed purpose and high ambition," and pointed to new trade partners, major building projects and Canada's push to become "a global energy superpower with Alberta at its core." He told reporters he spoke with Smith on the morning after the vote, called it "a great result for Canada," and said they discussed working together in a spirit of cooperative federalism, including on immigration.
Smith wrote on social media that she was "very pleased to see the initial results from Elections Alberta show widespread support for remaining in Canada." In a televised address the evening after the vote, she said she would "not be holding another referendum on this issue" while she is premier, and that her government would pursue the reforms voters approved on the other questions "within the political and legal institutions of our nation." "There are still many political and constitutional battles ahead of us," she said. "Let us move forward not as a people divided by how we voted yesterday, but as neighbours, friends, Albertans and Canadians."
The separatists and the other nine questions
Separatist leaders said they would carry on. "It is fair to say that at least a quarter of Albertans feel that Alberta needs to be treated better," said Keith Wilson, a leader of the movement. Jeffrey Rath, a lawyer for the Alberta Prosperity Project, said he would push for a special general meeting of the governing United Conservative Party to remove Smith as its leader.
The other nine questions, on immigration, proof of citizenship to vote and changes to Canada's Constitution, were still being counted. Most were leaning yes in the partial count, with narrower margins than on separation; the one question below a majority was the constitutional question on opting out of federal transfers.