The referendum is over, but echoes of the vote will reverberate for some time.
Just as the referendum had a lengthy lead-up, the aftershock of the vote will be felt for quite some time yet.
Albertans resoundingly voted in favour of remaining a province of Canada in Monday’s referendum.
The exact results were not finalized by time of press, but unofficially we can say that 75 per cent of voters voted for Option 1 (to remain) on Question 10.
In the St. Albert riding, 83 per cent voted remain. That’s the highest result in the province outside of Edmonton or Calgary (33rd overall after 18 Edmonton ridings and 14 Calgary ones; we thought that St. Albert might have been closer to the unofficial title of most Canadian part of Alberta).
At the Gazette, we are thrilled that such a clear majority was delivered. There can be no question now that moving forward, talk of separation should be treated for what it is: poppycock and tomfoolery.
The entire exercise in democracy came about in the most undemocratic ways — from changing petition thresholds to designing questions that sidestepped a court ruling which had halted the separatist petition process — and ultimately was not worth it.
It was not worth the skipped family dinners to avoid that one angry relative. It was not worth the racist gaslighting that targeted new Canadians (some of which happened right here in our own backyard when anti-immigrant demonstrators showed up on St. Albert Trail). It was not worth the economic uncertainty. It was not worth the mockery from the rest of Canada or the embarrassment of openly courting U.S. expansionists.
It certainly was not worth the actual dollars and cents spent on the whole circus; one former Elections Alberta chief officer had estimated the cost of the referendum could be in the neighbourhood of $130 million.
Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi was not wrong when he said “None of this helped anybody … None of this made your life better.”
So, now what? How do we help and make lives better? How do we move forward from this?
Among everything that came out of this referendum, one of the positives that can rise out of the divisiveness is the momentum we have gathered, the energy for problem-solving, and the willingness to join grassroots movements and become involved in politics and community in ways we haven’t seen in many years.
The day following the referendum, Premier Danielle Smith made a televised promise that “for as long as I am premier, I will honour this mandate from Albertans and will not be holding another referendum on this issue.”
It remains to be seen how long Smith will be premier given separatist leaders have already publicly committed to challenge her leadership at next month’s UCP convention.
But in the meantime, Smith seems to have a willing partner in Prime Minster Mark Carney to discuss some of the grievances that have come to the fore. Though the question on separation had a clear winner, the other nine referendum questions — focused on immigration and constitutional issues — are much closer, almost an even split in most cases, but coming out on the “yes” side. (Except for Question 6, which would call for higher-court justices to be appointed by the province, and ironically, Question 8, favours “no” to opting out of federal programs without losing funding.)
The constitutional reform would require the other provinces to play ball, but Carney has largely shown a willingness to listen and work with Alberta, killing or reforming many of the “nine bad laws” and moving forward with the Pacific Link pipeline.
With a changing relationship with Ottawa and a more engaged citizenry, we’re hopeful that the days of the apathetic Alberta voter are over and we can move forward to tackle the real issues facing Albertans, in a collaborative, co-operative, creative, and kind manner. A Canadian manner.