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Alberta Votes to Stay: Over 76% Reject Starting Separation Process
Early results on October 20 from Alberta's October 19 ten-question referendum show the remain camp winning question 10 with about 76% of more than 1.22 million valid votes counted.
Why it matters
The most-watched question of Alberta's ten-question referendum on Monday, October 19, has a clear winner: CBC projected on Monday night that the remain camp would prevail on question 10. As of early Tuesday, October 20, 941,204 of 1,229,463 valid ballots counted backed "Alberta should remain a province in Canada," against 288,259 for starting the legal process toward a separation vote — roughly 76% to 23%.
The result is the biggest public test yet of Alberta's separation question and hands Prime Minister Mark Carney a political victory, though divisions between Alberta and Ottawa over energy policy, economic priorities and provincial autonomy remain unresolved.
Full report
Question 10 asked voters: "Should 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?" The vote was not a direct decision on independence, but on whether to begin a legal and political process that could eventually lead to a second referendum.
More than 100 voting locations stayed open past the scheduled 8 p.m. local closing time on Monday due to delays, pushing results into the early hours of Tuesday. Premier Danielle Smith had urged voters to back the other nine questions while saying she herself voted to remain; she has said she will not hold a second vote if the remain side wins, at least while she is premier.
Carney spent the previous week urging Albertans to vote against the nine and to stay. Both leaders had said that even a win for the process option would not take Alberta out of the country directly.
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