{"id":594066,"date":"2026-04-10T05:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/594066\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T05:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:00:15","slug":"alberta-separatists-claim-looming-carney-majority-helps-their-cause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/594066\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberta separatists claim looming Carney majority helps their cause"},"content":{"rendered":"

Separatists in Alberta say recent developments that have put Prime Minister Mark Carney on the verge of a parliamentary majority<\/a> are boosting their cause as they seek to gather public support to force a vote on independence from Canada.<\/p>\n

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Volunteer canvassers gathering signatures in the western province for a petition aimed \u200cat triggering a citizen-led referendum on separation<\/a> report an uptick in support since Marilyn Gladu, a long-time member of the right-leaning Conservatives, \u2060defected to the ruling Liberal party on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had \u200cthousands of signatures since then,\u201d said Jeff Rath, spokesman for the Alberta Prosperity Project group that supports independence, in an interview on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cMark Carney himself has been \u2060the biggest help to the Alberta independence movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlberta separatist petition has enough signatures, organizers say\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s electoral authority has not verified how many signatures the movement has. \u200cRath said the citizen-led petition is already well over the approximately 177,000 signatures required by Alberta law to launch a referendum on separation from \u2060Canada in October.<\/p>\n

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Carney\u2019s office did not immediately respond \u200cto a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tPrime Minister Mark Carney shakes hands with MP for Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong Marilyn Gladu in Ottawa, Wednesday, April 8, 2026.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tTHE CANADIAN PRESS\/Adrian Wyld\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Gladu is the fourth Conservative legislator to defect to the Liberals since November, and Carney will secure a parliamentary majority on Monday if his party wins at least one of three special elections.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Get<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGet daily National news<\/p>\n

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.<\/p>\n

A majority in the House of Commons will make it easier for the prime minister to push through his agenda.<\/p>\n

The latest defection prompted widespread outrage in Conservative circles.<\/p>\n

In \u200coil-rich Alberta, which leans rightward, many voters feel betrayed by the defections and worry that a Liberal majority will not be in the province\u2019s \u2060interests, Rath said.<\/p>\n

Many separatists on social media also said the defections could spur more support for independence.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf more conservative floor crossers come forward, winning a referendum becomes very hard to stop,\u201d said one post on social media platform X, which was reposted on Thursday by Keith Wilson, a prominent Alberta \u200bindependence activist.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:38
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Unacceptable, unethical\u2019: Doug Ford reacts to Alberta separatist group asking for U.S. assistance\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Separatists have been working to raise awareness of their cause south of the border<\/a>, \u200bin order to get a sense of how Americans would respond to the prospect of an independent Alberta, Rath added.<\/p>\n

Wilson \u200cappeared on U.S. right-wing media personality Glenn Beck\u2019s program this week, and Beck said he was an admirer of the cause.<\/p>\n

Billionaire Elon Musk also appeared to endorse Alberta separatism this week<\/a>, replying \u201cYeah\u201d on X \u2060in response to an independence activist\u2019s statement \u200cthat breaking away from the country is the only way to save Canada.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tA post on X from billionaire Elon Musk this week, in response to David Parker, one of the leaders of the Alberta separation movement, that appeared to endorse the idea of Alberta leaving Canada.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tx.com\/elonmusk\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Rath described Musk as a \u201cbig supporter.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The \u200cseparatists have until May 2 to \u200bsubmit their petition to Elections Alberta.<\/p>\n

Polling has consistently shown that separation \u2060is a minority position \u2060in Alberta. <\/a><\/p>\n

A new poll this week, published before Gladu\u2019s defection, showed 27 per cent of decided voters would vote in favor \u200bof independence.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNew\u00a0Ipsos\u00a0poll suggests less desire\u00a0for\u00a0separation\u00a0in Alberta\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Separatists in Alberta say recent developments that have put Prime Minister Mark Carney on the verge of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":594067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35932,43,225754,44,714,5046,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-594066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-alberta-separation","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-marilyn-gladu","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-politics","13":"tag-prime-minister-mark-carney","14":"tag-top-news","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-topnews","17":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}