Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada • Hacker News Board

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#321

Post by briga » Fri, May 22, 2026, 9:04 PM UTC

Marsymars wrote: post #299

briga wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Albertan/Western Canadian identity is totally a thing, and has been around for a lot longer than this latest round of separatist sentiment. The west has been griping about unfair treatment from the federal government for over a century now, so 1) this isn't primarily driven by foreign interference and 2) it's not coming out of nowhere. Whether it's a good idea is a different question. I doubt most Albertans want to b…

Unique culture and a sense of nationhood are two entirely separate things. This was a good Globe piece a month ago: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-alberta-has-... Some choice quotes. > The Wild Rose province isn’t like Scotland, Quebec, or Catalonia. Everyone can more or less agree these are “stateless nations.” Maybe you think those nations should have their own state, maybe you don’t, but they foll…

Thanks for sharing.

I've been saying it for a while not but "independence" is a distraction and not the end goal here. The inevitable outcome would be annexation by the US.

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#322

Post by philistine » Fri, May 22, 2026, 9:05 PM UTC

mmastrac wrote: post #131

cf100clunk wrote: post #98

Some numbers to consider: ~465,000 legally verified signatories to the federalist petition to declare Alberta permanently part of Canada ~360,000 status First Nations persons within Alberta ~330,000 legally unverified signatories to the separatist petition to hold a referendum to separate from Canada First Nations have successfully argued in court that as consultations with them are required by the Canadian Constitut…

It's clear it's a pandering to the provincial government base, and has zero legitimacy. This all stems from a boneheaded move to unify the right in Alberta to prevent another NDP leadership term - that term being something that actually did our province some good. We've unfortunately been putting up with these leaders doing this sort of thing too long and let the rural part of this province dictate far too much. FWIW…

It’s the British Tories’ Brexit playbook to a T. Remember that David Cameron was cold on Europe, but opposed to leaving the EU yet insisted on having a referendum to stop the far right from stealing his voters.

It was the ok I’ll ask you to stop the discussion once and for all.

It’s a plan that Cameron completely bungled, ruining his personal reputation, his party’s, and his country’s. I dread the consequences for the average Albertan if this goes south.

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#323

Post by cf100clunk » Fri, May 22, 2026, 9:07 PM UTC

gxt wrote: post #189

cf100clunk wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> Your comment is nothing more than a broad ethnic slur Have you considered that it may not be an insult but legitimate criticism? The official government stat is 1.05M FN members. They have been targeted by over 200B$ in federal wealth transfers alone excluding tax incentives, provincial and municipal funding since 2015. That's almost 20K$ per person per year, more than what most Canadians pay in taxes each year and…

Interesting that you use the term ''ask'' when the person did not ask any question when making the broad ethnic slur.

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#324

Post by ben_w » Fri, May 22, 2026, 9:10 PM UTC

PowerElectronix wrote: post #286

hash872 wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, but there are some logistical issues here- let's say Alberta votes to secede and this is somehow legally viable. All of the Albertan voters who didn't want to secede- including the native tribes- could then by your rules vote to secede from Alberta and join back to Canada. It'd be a mess. Towns and counties would split themselves in half, and so on. What would happen if a landlocked town within Alberta wants to r…

It's like having to belong to a higher imposed authority (either the original country or the seceded territory) is bad for the individual that doesn't want any of that. If only there was a solution to that problem...

> If only there was a solution to that problem...

Sure, but as one who has done it, moving country is surprisingly hard.

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#325

Post by briga » Fri, May 22, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC

52-6F-62 wrote: post #282

briga wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't think it's a thing then you're either not from here, or haven't been paying attention. The average Canadian's opinion of Alberta is also very telling, with most of the rest of the country seeming to despise the province, or think it's some sort of regressive backwater.

Since you decided to take things in a personal direction, yes. I have lived and worked in Alberta. I have had family in Alberta. I have friends in Alberta. My partner is from the west, and we visit regularly. That's some bad karma, pretending you can read someone like that and attempting to beat them down with your ignorance and then claim to be a victim.

Now now, when was I claiming to be a victim? Let's not be dramatic now.

Also, which Alberta? Edmonton? Cardston? Fort McMurray? Lloydminster? Grande Prairie? Canmore? I guarantee you will find varying levels of Albertan identity and many different perspectives in each. Albertan identity is not a mirage.

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#326

Post by ben_w » Fri, May 22, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC

xboxnolifes wrote: post #268

ryandrake wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The huge problem is that geographical borders don't nicely line up with cultural/ethnic/attitude borders. Let's say you let a province (or US state) secede over political/cultural issues. What happens to all of the people who don't want to go along for the ride? They're now at a huge risk. Those dissenters might even be persecuted or, at worst, cleansed, depending on the laws of the new seceded country. So then you s…

> Let's say you let a province (or US state) secede over political/cultural issues. What happens to all of the people who don't want to go along for the ride? Well, thats politics? The people proposing this are supposed to be considering that. And the people in that position are supposed to be considering that. Every day there are votes with outcomes people dont want to go along with the ride for. But they do, or the…

> Well, thats politics? The people proposing this are supposed to be considering that. And the people in that position are supposed to be considering that.

People are very bad at considering stuff like this. Both voters and politicians.

When I left the UK, a former acquaintance was very confused that their support of something they thought was "just politics" led to me having no interest in continuing to talk to them.

I very much doubt that David Cameron or Theresa May expected a newspaper to have a front-page headline calling judges "Enemies of the People"[0], similarly for a half the politicians who have been milkshaked[1].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemies_of_the_people_(headlin...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkshaking

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#327

Post by Sprocklem » Fri, May 22, 2026, 9:24 PM UTC

illiac786 wrote: post #308

BiraIgnacio wrote: post #229

The referendum is actually about having a referendum first. "Alberta to hold fall referendum on whether to have binding referendum on separating from Canada" https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-separation-r...

That made me laugh actually. What a good way of wasting taxpayers money and make people laugh at the same time. More seriously: Why?

The UCP are trying to prolong this whole affair and, I think, trying to pander to separatists without actually risking that Alberta separate.

ETA: There is definitely a significant pro-separatist faction within the UCP, but I don't think the current party leadership is really willing to commit to separating, even if they are buddy-buddy with key figures in the current US regime.

Also note that this referendum does not require that the question be clear (per the Clarity Act), which will allow them to confuse voters and garner apparently higher support, that they can use to coerce the federal government into giving them what they want.

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#328

Post by array_key_first » Fri, May 22, 2026, 9:26 PM UTC

Marsymars wrote: post #276

ryandrake wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you choose not to vote, then you are implicitly voting for "whatever ends up winning."

It's conceptually pretty weird to have a mental model where the single vote that brings one side to 50%+1 implicitly flips millions of other votes.

It makes sense when you consider those millions of other voters are apathetic by definition. They can be implicitly flipped like that because they, supposedly, don't care at all. If they did care then they would vote and then wouldn't be subject to that. And that is why it is vital to be extremely careful with apathy, in all aspects of life. Because apathy is a choice.

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#329

Post by gamblor956 » Fri, May 22, 2026, 9:49 PM UTC

hash872 wrote: post #234

d_burfoot wrote: post #211

Many commenters seem to be appealing to an almost religious defense of present political borders. That attitude is untenable: there is nothing sacred about national boundaries, they are mere political artifacts like rules, regulations, tax codes, etc. If the people want to change them, they absolutely have the right to do so. https://unifixion.substack.com/p/political-boundaries-are-no...

OK, but there are some logistical issues here- let's say Alberta votes to secede and this is somehow legally viable. All of the Albertan voters who didn't want to secede- including the native tribes- could then by your rules vote to secede from Alberta and join back to Canada. It'd be a mess. Towns and counties would split themselves in half, and so on. What would happen if a landlocked town within Alberta wants to r…

It is legally viable. Canada passed a law allowing this after Quebec tried to secede. It lays out the procedures for how the separation would occur.

Re: Alberta to hold referendum on whether to remain in Canada

#330

Post by Teever » Fri, May 22, 2026, 9:54 PM UTC

nickff wrote: post #202

bawolff wrote: post #183

As an albertan this feels like desperate pandering to a tiny vocal minority to distract from real issues. Almost nobody wants this.

As a non-Albertan, this seems like a great bargaining ploy to get some leverage against the Federal Government, just like Quebec did. Most political parties in Canada seem to ignore and exploit the West most of the time, whereas they treat Quebec (transfer payments) and the maritimes (oil revenues and employment insurance) much more thoughtfully.

Unfortunately it isn't a bargaining ploy.[0]

These people are serious. They feel a genuine sense of grievance for how they perceive the rest of Canada has treated them. They have come to believe that there is a legitimate Albertan identity that is unique to the region and people and that is being persecuted 'by Ottawa.' They also feel that the separatist course of action is one with nothing but positives and only minor negatives. Some of them lie about ulterior motives to see Alberta join the US, while others are in denial that this could even be a possible outcome should Albertans decide to separate.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43487443