Poll: Majority of Alberta residents reject separation from Canada

Edmonton —
A new survey showed that a clear majority of Alberta residents do not support separation from Canada, as an October referendum on the province's future within the Canadian federation approaches.

According to the survey results, 60% of participants said they would vote "no" on the proposed official referendum question, compared to 35% who said they would vote "yes".

Opposition to separation increases when the question is posed in a simpler and more direct form about whether Alberta residents want to leave Canada or stay in it. In this case, 67% said they prefer to remain in Canada, compared to 30% who supported separation.

This difference indicates that the wording of the question may affect the level of support, but it does not change the overall trend, as the results show that the majority of the province's residents do not want to leave Canada.

The survey also showed that more than half of Alberta residents believe that Premier Danielle Smith handled the separation issue poorly, at a time when her government is facing criticism for proceeding with putting the issue on the fall referendum.

Smith had announced her intention to put a question on the referendum ballot asking Alberta residents whether they want the province to remain in Canada or to hold a binding future referendum on separation.

The controversy comes amid increasing tension between the Alberta government and the federal government over energy files, pipelines, environmental policies, and the economic relationship with Ottawa.

Despite the rise in political rhetoric calling for more autonomy, the survey results reveal that federalist tendencies remain stronger among the majority of Alberta residents, and that the idea of separation does not yet have enough support to turn it into a broad political path.