Jason, you just proved our point without realizing it.
You're comparing separatist *parties* to a *referendum*. Those aren't the same thing. People vote for parties on a hundred issues. A referendum asks one question. And when Albertans got asked that one question, 467,000 of them voted to start the process. That's not 1%. That's not a micro party. That's nearly half a million people.
And your Quebec comparison? The PQ lost its first referendum too. Then its second one by half a point. Movements take time. Quebec's separatists spent decades building. Alberta's movement just forced a province-wide vote, collected 222,597 verified signatures on a citizen initiative, and got the premier addressing the province about it. By your own definition, that's a serious movement.
Here's the other thing you got wrong: nobody "infiltrated" anything. The premier herself put the question on the ballot. Albertans voted. That's democracy, not infiltration. And the UCP wasn't created to "support national unity" — it was created to unite the right and beat the NDP. Don't rewrite your own party's history.
You admit the grievances are legitimate, then your answer is the same one that's failed for decades: build alliances, make the case, ask Ottawa nicely. You tried that with your Fair Deal Panel. Ottawa ignored it. Everybody knows it.
So here's the real message from the referendum: we're not going back to micro parties, and we're not going anywhere. 467,000 Albertans just said so — in a vote, not a fringe party.
One clear message from the referendum: Alberta separatists should go back to their separatist micro parties, rather than trying to destabilize Alberta by infiltrating a party created and elected to support national unity.
Reminder:
👉The last time a separatist party contested an Alberta provincial election, the Alberta Freedom Party got a province wide total of 9,000 votes (0.54%) in 2019.
👉The last time a Western separatist party contested a federal election, the Maverick Party got 35,000 votes (0.2%) in all of Western Canada in 2021.
👉Since they began running in 1980, Alberta / Western separatist parties have contested over 20 federal & provincial elections, winning on average 1% of the vote, one seat, and zero governments
👉By comparison, since the PQ’s foundation in 1968, Quebec separatists have won over 1500 seats federally and provincially, and elected 5 provincial governments
Albertans have absolutely legitimate grievances.
Too often we have faced federal and some other provincial governments that undermined our province and its hugely positive contribution to the federation.
We must continue to build alliances, and make the case for fairness in the federation.
But let’s be clear about one thing: Alberta separatism is not, and never has been, a serious political movement.