If you’re an Albertan student at UVic, like me, you can’t afford to ignore what’s going on back home
Illustration by Sage Blackwell.
I’ve lost count of how many times I have told someone here at UVic that I’m from Alberta, and they’ve responded with “Oh, I’m sorry.” It happens a lot, and sometimes it really strikes a nerve with me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m under no illusions about the reputation that Albertan conservatism has earned us in liberal communities like Victoria, but I still love my home.
Regardless of stereotypes, I am proud to be from Alberta, and I will always maintain that it was a wonderful place to grow up. I was surrounded by warm, lovely people who exposed me to many different social and cultural worlds, and it is an instrumental part of who I am as a person.
Unfortunately, I can only sing its praises for so long without addressing the political elephant in the room (which will inevitably be tied to all conversation about my home province for the considerable future); the rising Alberta separatist movement.
Personally, I have a difficult time believing that this movement will gain enough steam to do anything more than make noise. I could be wrong, though, and perhaps I live in a bubble; I am a fairly liberal person, who encounters few overtly conservative people in my day-to-day life, and I now live in one of the most left-leaning cities in Canada.
Regardless of whether or not the separatists are all bark or bite, though, they are certainly succeeding at one thing: they have convinced the provincial government to take them seriously, and are working to normalize the idea of secession as a viable path to economic success. Separatist arguments have arisen in response to restrictions placed on Alberta’s energy sector and the redistribution of Alberta’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) across Canada by the federal government’s “equalization payments”.
The possibility of separation has been raised despite economists’ arguments that secession would cause significant damage to the Albertan economy.
The separatist movement has also completely disregarded the fact that Alberta was founded on, and currently exists on, First Nations treaty land — land that does not belong to the provincial government.
Premier Danielle Smith, leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP), may say that she does not support Alberta seceding from Canada, but those words carry little weight when she has proven on several occasions her willingness to pander to any crowd in order to maintain her own political position.
Amidst of the collapse of Canadian-U.S. relations, stemming from President Donald Trump’s repeated threats of annexation, Smith travelled to Florida to speak at a PragerU conference. PragerU is an advocacy group for the extreme right, with a history of comparing climate change activists to Nazis and campaigning against access to gender-affirming care for transgender people.
Smith also travelled to the United States to speak with Trump about tariffs; in an interview with far-right news conglomerate Breitbart, her fear was that tariffs garnered greater support for the Liberal Party — not the potential economic devastation they might cause across Canada.
Even when dealing with an issue as serious as threats to Canadian sovereignty, Smith was willing to ingratiate herself with the far-right while waiting to see which way the wind was blowing. Right now, she is doing the same thing with the issue of Albertan separatism. She is afraid that, if the UCP does not indulge separatists, there could be factionalism within the party, which would risk conservative hegemony in Alberta — and, by consequence, her position as Premier.
To be clear, I am not equating the Alberta separatist movement with the dangerous politics of the MAGA movement. I am merely underlining a pattern of behavior from the Premier which proves to me that, when presented with an issue that challenges Canadian and Albertan unity, protecting and expanding her own political power will be her first priority.
So, what is the solution for Albertans who have little confidence that their representatives truly have their interests at heart? For many, political apathy seems an easy out. Alberta’s 2023 provincial general election saw a 60 per cent voter turnout, and only a 49 per cent turnout from voters ages 18–24. While statistics are not yet available for our recent federal election, less than 50 per cent of eligible Canadians ages 18–24 cast a ballot in the prior federal election. That is a startling amount of inaction from our youngest generation of voters.
For Albertans here at UVic living away from home, it is easy to feel removed from the moment-to-moment developments and consequences of our provincial government’s steady drift away from Canadian identity, and its growing lack of interest in cooperating with the rest of the nation. It is easy to forget that we still possess the means and the responsibility to make our voices heard.
So, to my fellow Albertans: do not close your eyes and wait for something to happen. Have that uncomfortable conversation with your folks back home. Write to your MLA, participate in public debate, and above all else make sure you request a Special Ballot — when the referendum is inevitably put forth — which will allow you to vote while being a student in B.C.
If voter turnout remains low, and Danielle Smith continues to use unity crises as an opportunity to power-seek, in the event of a referendum, the last thing any of us should be saying is that we didn’t see it coming.
