The fate of the province that some five million people call home will be up in the air for the next five months as Alberta voters ponder a serious question: Do we stay or do we go?
Albertans will head to the polls this coming October 19 for a historic referendum that could change the course of not only the Prairie province, but Canada as well.
vote, announced on February 19, it originally contained nine questions to do with immigration and possible changes to the Constitution of Canada.
Then on May 21, Premier Danielle Smith announced that a 10th question was being addedputting the issue of separatism in Alberta in the hands of the voters.
Question: “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada? Or should the Alberta government begin the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should secede from Canada?”
So how did we get here?
For the past few months, Global News reporters across Alberta have been digging into the issues at the heart of the independence referendum, and this week, those stories are being shared.
Global News presents “The road to the referendum.”
The week-long series will explore many topics, starting with the key developments that led to the decision to hold a referendum.
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We’ll hear from separatists about what motivates them to want to leave — as well as federalists who are passionate about staying in Canada.
We’ll explore the practical questions Albertans have about the real-life logistics of leaving Canada: what about our borders, currency, military and more?
What about places like Lloydminster, which straddles the Alberta and Saskatchewan border?
Under the Constitution, what does a yes vote or even holding a referendum mean on treaty rights — the well-known nation-to-nation constitutional agreements signed more than a century ago between the Crown and Canada’s Indigenous peoples?
The lands of five different treaty nations fall within Alberta’s borders: the three largest are Treaty 8 in northern Alberta, Treaty 6 in Edmonton and central Alberta, and Treaty 7 stretching from south of Red Deer to the Canada–US border. Small portions of two other regions also lie in Alberta: Tract 10 near Cold Lake and Tract 4 east of Medicine Hat.
First Nations have won a pair of landmark court battles limiting the provincial government’s ability to hold a binding constitutional referendum. We speak to members of a First Nation leading the fight to stay in Canada about their perspective on the referendum.
What impact would a referendum or partition have on the economy?
What about the new water flow pipeline that the Alberta government has long fought for and now has a memorandum of understanding with the federal government to deliver?
Financial and business analysts have already said the separatist movement is scaring away investors and large corporations, raising questions about the future of Alberta’s economic prosperity.
Proponents of an independent Alberta suggest that writing our own economic history would bring prosperity and an end to any economic stagnation caused by federal policies.
Opponents dispute that claim, arguing that even entertaining the question will drive away investment and jobs, leaving Alberta a landlocked state with fewer options than before.
Canada has been on the path of debating separatism before. We explore what cautionary tales came from the Quebec referendums and what long-term ripple effect could come from the next few months of Alberta’s referendum campaign.
High-profile provincial leaders, political and economic experts, and those who are pushing hard to stay and leave are all invited to join the conversation on our newscasts.
This story will be updated with coverage each day. More to come…
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