{"id":930890,"date":"2026-10-13T01:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T01:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/930890\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T01:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T01:14:09","slug":"canadas-carney-calls-for-unity-as-alberta-prepares-for-secession-vote-elections-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/930890\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s Carney calls for unity as Alberta prepares for secession vote | Elections News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s Thanksgiving message comes a week ahead of Alberta\u2019s vote on a separatism referendum.<\/p>\n

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Published On 12 Oct 202612 Oct 2026<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney has used his Thanksgiving message to Canadians to call for national unity, a week before the oil-rich province of Alberta<\/a> is set to vote on a proposal to secede<\/a>\u00a0from Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t build big things on fault lines,\u201d Carney said in his video message on Monday, warning that Canada faces threats to its economy, security and way of life.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be strong, and we are stronger together.\u201d<\/p>\n

His comments come as Albertans head to the polls on October 19 to decide whether to begin the process of seeking independence. The initial referendum is non-binding, but it proposes to hold a binding vote in the future to decide whether Alberta should secede.<\/p>\n

The question facing voters is:\u00a0\u201cShould Alberta remain a province of Canada, or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?\u201d<\/p>\n

The vote follows a growing push<\/a> by a vocal group of separatists, fuelled by longstanding grievances over federal energy and environmental policies.<\/p>\n

The secessionist movement has accused the Canadian government of unfairly targeting Alberta\u2019s oil and gas industry, the cornerstone of the province\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

The movement is also being watched south of the border, as Canada\u2019s relationship with the United States under President Donald Trump has become strained.<\/p>\n

An investigation by The Globe and Mail earlier this month revealed that US Republican operatives met with secession organisers in Alberta to talk about campaign strategies. Separatist leaders had reportedly offered access to the province\u2019s water and oil royalties in exchange for US support for independence. Separatist leaders have disputed those claims.<\/p>\n

Carney\u2019s comments also come after another secessionist movement, the Parti Quebecois, won the most seats in a provincial election<\/a> in Quebec last week, allowing it to return to power after more than a decade.<\/p>\n

The Parti Quebecois, however, only won 59 seats out of a total of 129 in Quebec\u2019s National Assembly, leaving it short of a majority government.<\/p>\n

Still, following that victory, US tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, considered the richest man on the planet, applauded the results. He has been known to use his wealth and influence to support political causes, particularly on the far right.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood. Quebec should separate,\u201d Musk wrote on social media. \u201cThey would be better off. Alberta and Saskatchewan should separate too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carney, who grew up in Alberta, said he was filming the message from a classroom at his former school, St Francis Xavier High School in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m back home a lot these days because we are building big things again in Alberta: thousands of new homes, high-speed rail, a new pipeline to the West Coast that will create lasting opportunity and prosperity for hundreds of thousands of people in this province and across the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite the secessionist movement\u2019s growing visibility, polls suggest most Albertans oppose independence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s Thanksgiving message comes a week ahead of Alberta\u2019s vote on a separatism referendum. Published…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":930891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,3411,4717,295,33828,44,714,772,1690],"class_list":["post-930890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-elections","tag-energy","tag-environment","tag-independence","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930890","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=930890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/930891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=930890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=930890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=930890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}