Albertans vote October 19 on whether their provincial government should begin the constitutional process toward a binding referendum on leaving Canada. With a month to go, Elections Alberta says it has received about 520,000 applications for special ballots, which most voters receive by mail.
The independence question is Question 10 on a ten-question ballot. It asks: “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada, or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?” Voters choose one of two answers: that Alberta should remain a province of Canada, or that the government should begin that legal process.
A result for the second option would not take Alberta out of Canada. It would direct the government to start the steps the Canadian Constitution requires for a second, binding vote on independence.
The question is written that way because of a court fight. Justice Shaina Leonard of the Court of King’s Bench quashed a citizen petition for an independence referendum organized by Stay Free Alberta, which submitted it in May with nearly 302,000 signatures. In a televised address on May 21, Premier Danielle Smith said the ruling “fundamentally misinterprets the nature of the duty to consult,” and said a question asking the government to begin a legal process, rather than to separate, would let the vote go ahead. Her cabinet set the wording by order in council on May 28. On June 29, Justice Alice Woolley of the Alberta Court of Appeal allowed the petition’s signatures to be counted and verified.
Smith has said how she will vote. “I will therefore be voting for Alberta to remain in Canada, while continuing to work each and every day to restore and strengthen provincial rights,” she said in the May address.
The other nine questions ask about the province’s relationship with Ottawa. Questions 1 through 5 cover immigration, eligibility for provincially funded programs, and whether Albertans should have to show proof of citizenship to vote in provincial elections. Questions 6 through 9 ask whether Alberta should work with other provinces to amend the constitution so the province appoints its own senior judges, the federal Senate is abolished, provinces can opt out of federal programs without losing the funding, and provincial law takes priority over conflicting federal law.
As of September 17, Elections Alberta reported that about 72 percent of the special ballot applications had been approved and sent for production, more than 330,000 packages had been mailed, and more than 24,000 had been returned and approved. It said 313 packages, 0.09 percent, went out without ballots because of production errors, and about 7,200 applications were delayed by address errors. Voters have until September 25 to request a special ballot, and completed ballots must arrive by 5 p.m. on October 16. Advance voting runs October 13 through 17.
Polls cited by The Canadian Press show a majority of Albertans want to remain in Canada. Smith’s office expects the vote to settle the question. “In five weeks, the referendum vote will be over, and we’re confident Albertans will be ready to move forward and fight for a stronger Alberta within a united Canada,” spokesperson Sam Blackett told The Canadian Press.
Independence organizers say it will not. “This vote won’t resolve what’s broken in Canada and won’t fix how Albertans are treated poorly by Ottawa,” said Keith Wilson, leader of Let Alberta Decide. Thomas Lukaszuk, who leads the Forever Canadian campaign on the other side, said his group has “contingency plans put in place” to keep campaigning if it has to.
Jeff Rath, the lawyer who leads Stay Free Alberta, said the campaign will go on whatever the result. “Do you think we’re just going to stop advocating for a free and independent Alberta?”
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