Could Alberta Break Away?

There have been rumblings of separation within the Canadian province of Alberta for decades.  With the re-election of the federal Liberal Party, those rumbles have turned to angry shouts.  Polls suggest that between 25%-30% of Albertans would prefer their province to be an independent sovereign state.  Some of them say they don't mind U.S. President Trump's 51st State rhetoric.

At the core of the pro-seccession argument is the idea that western Canada, especially oil and gas-rich Alberta, is a primary economic driver, and that Alberta is contributing far more to the rest of Canada than it receives.

Alberta is one of Canada’s wealthier provinces, so it must make equalization payments to Ottawa, with those funds dispersed to other less-prosperous jurisdictions.  When Justin Trudeau’s Liberals were re-elected in 2019, the Alberta separatist movement began to get more organized, and the movement got a name, the Alberta Prosperity Project.  Recently, just north of Edmonton, about a thousand people turned out for a town hall meeting. Alberta Prosperity Project leader Mitch Sylvester opened the meeting by asking those in attendance “Would you like Alberta to become a sovereign country?”
“Do you agree that the province of Alberta should become a sovereign country, and cease to be a province of Canada, yes or no?" Sylvester asked.

" Yes,” said many in the crowd.

Jeff Rath, a lawyer representing the Alberta Prosperity Project, said that Premier Smith needs to acknowledge that many people within her own provincial United Conservative Party are in favor of the separation issue, and that Ottawa has nothing to offer Alberta.

“She understands now that over 65% of the UCP base are onside with what we’re offering Albertans.  She’s going through her exercise with Mark Carney, where Mark Carney is going to try to offer her some inducements, but there’s nothing that Mark Carney can offer Alberta.  He’s certainly not going to offer us freedom from federal regulation.”

Much of oil-and-gas-rich northern Alberta is Crown Land controlled by the federal government.  And there are the Land Treaty issues that have little to do with Alberta, but those Treaties do involve the various First Nations tribes in Alberta and the federal government in Ottawa.  Brooks Arcand-Paul is a Native Cree, and he is an elected Member of the Alberta Legislature.

“Our inherent right and jurisdiction over these lands predate the creation of Alberta," Arcand-Paul said.  "We are signatories to Treaties made with the Crown, not with the province.  And we do not want to become the 51st State.  I will never vote for separatism!”

So, while there is some appetite for Alberta to separate from Canada, the Alberta Prosperity Project faces a steep uphill battle to attain its goal of sovereignty.

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