Alberta: More federalist than you thought

AVERT your eyes if you don’t like hardcore. This is a hard-core column about the hard-core Alberta separatists who hijacked a party, corrupted a process and failed in their fevered fervour to break up Canada.

First, be of good cheer. Canada won Monday night’s referendum in Alberta. Decisively. Three-quarters of the votes cast were for Option 1: “Alberta should remain a province of Canada.” Only one in four Alberta voters opted for a referendum on separation.

Alberta won, too. That strong vote against separation means the province can look ahead, confident the independence fever dream is boxed. A true win-win and a sad rarity in politics these days.

Be warned, though. Those hard-core separatists are hard dogs to keep on the porch, as the expression goes. They are already agitating to be taken more seriously than the votes warrant. They intend to flex whatever muscle memory remains to depose Premier Danielle Smith from her leadership of the United Conservative Party. Dis-united Conservative Party, anyone?

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