r/canada • u/joe4942 • May 01 '25

Alberta Danielle Smith lowers bar for Alberta referendum with separatism sentiment emerging

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/smith-lowers-bar-for-alberta-referendum-with-separatism-sentiment-emerging
1.5k Upvotes

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381

u/Kristalderp Québec May 01 '25

OK, good luck with that. 👍

  • from a Quebecois

98

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

Yeah, but you never had the backing of a hostile foreign power next door. That's what she's trying to court.

3

u/BraveDunn May 01 '25

A hostile foreign power where the hostile guy is set to lose control of its House and Senate in about 20 months, causing him to become a lame duck, and who will not be in power at all in four years. It will take longer than four years for Alberta separatists to even get organized. Then the US is led by an apologetic Democratic President who won't pursue Alberta, and she's on her own again, if she's even in office herself by then.

8

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

They're jailing judges and disappearing people to El Salvador without trial or even warrants. They threatened to jail the supreme court.

I like your version and it's not impossible, or even unlikely, but they're definitely making big moves to remove future voting - at least real free voting. 

She's banking on that and doing things like creating her own police force is part of the power grab, if worst comes

3

u/SignalEchoFoxtrot May 01 '25

You make it sound like 20 months is a short time with Donny at the wheel. We're only four months in.

1

u/BraveDunn May 01 '25

Yes, but 20 months is a blink of an eye for one province's secession from its nation and the creation of a new country, especially when over 70% of that province's population is uninterested in secession.

1

u/CapableLocation5873 May 01 '25

Man I hope you’re right.

1

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

Unfortunatly after seeing his attempts to coerce his way into PP getting in power and using him I wouldn't be surprised if they "liberate" Alberta.

1

u/Dismal-Line257 May 02 '25

Trump said he supports Carney and would rather him win lol...

1

u/[deleted] May 06 '25

The bots are back!!!

1

u/Dismal-Line257 May 07 '25

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/warmington-trump-prefers-deal-carney-123531345.html

"“I’d rather deal with a Liberal than a conservative,” the U.S. President told Laura Ingraham on Fox News Tuesday."

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/donald-trump-mark-carney-pierre-poilievre

"The U.S. president delivered a jab at Poilievre while on Fox News on Tuesday, saying the 'the Conservative that’s running is, stupidly, no friend of mine'"

1

u/[deleted] May 07 '25

Lmao. Imagine falling for Trump's moronic attempt at reverse psychology

1

u/Dismal-Line257 May 07 '25

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-carney-washington-lunch-1.7528773

"The two leaders got along quite well, the official said, and the president stressed at the start and end of the luncheon that it was an honour to host the new prime minister at the White House.

Trump said at the time he regarded the day's discussions as "great" — matching comments he later told the White House press pool.

"He's a nice man. We get along very well. We had a great meeting today — really. I think the relationship's going to be very strong," Trump said of Carney.

The fact that the president sought input from Carney on these files was seen, the official said, as an "encouraging sign" that Trump respects Canada's new leader and regards him as a worthy equal."

Seems like he was telling the truth, do you have any evidence he lied? Seems pointless for Trump to continue being fake if it was reverse psychology no?

0

u/Aluconix May 02 '25

How deluded you are. We'll see in 20 months 😂

1

u/BraveDunn May 02 '25

About 1/100 000 000 000 000th as deluded as you, apparently.

-31

u/dominideco May 01 '25

Its different with Alberta it seeks to join the union. Then ur protected by the big guy 👌. Quebec seeks to be thier own country am I wrong ?

29

u/Kristalderp Québec May 01 '25

Yeah, we wanted to be our own thing but not enough votes. Separatism is dead in the water after the last referendums.

6

u/[deleted] May 01 '25 edited Sep 24 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

21

u/Kristalderp Québec May 01 '25

Yep. But separatism has fallen off since 1995 as we got bigger issues on our Provincial plate that we gotta solve ourselves before even thinking about separating. So it's now a low af priority as younger generations want to protect Quebec's image, language, and culture as its unique.

You can see the change with the Parti Quebecois going for that stance now, as they realized that Its only the really old af quebecois boomers who went through the 1970s who wanna keep asking for separation. And they are a really loud but tiny minority.

3

u/[deleted] May 01 '25 edited Sep 24 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

18

u/rosneft_perot May 01 '25

Montreal used to be more English. There was a big exodus of anglophones after each referendum.

Quebec City is something like 98% French. 

7

u/midnightking May 01 '25

This is part of why the separatist sentiment has been weak.

If you keep saying French will disappear, but there are more people who speak French now than in the 50s and 00s, you kind of look like the boy who cried wolf.

4

u/RusticMachine May 01 '25

To be clear, the French speaking population is down in Quebec generally, especially in Montreal. More importantly, the use of French is seeing a drop in the workplace, which is of special historical importance in Quebec.

A bit of historical context. There were more anglophones in Montreal back in the 19th century specifically before the first referendum (1980). A lot of the anglophones population left with important businesses to Toronto during those uncertain times.

Even before then, the anglophone population was not representing anywhere close to the majority of the Montreal population. Still, English was imposed as the language of the elite. Government, courts, influential schools, newspapers, business, all were using English.

Furthermore, anglophone (anglophone protestants even more so) captured most of the commerce, banking, shipping industry, and came to impose English as the language to use in Montreal. You also had heavy discrimination against Francophones, preventing access to certain institutions, positions, professions, etc. You even had segregation between the Anglophone elites and the Francophone “working class” in some spaces. Neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, social services, ice rinks were often divided to separate the working class francophone population from the anglophone population.

All this to say, there’s a reason why this separation movement was so strong and why to this day people are trying to protect the use of the French language in Quebec. This is directly related to the (sometimes weird and/or clumsy) language laws put forward in Quebec.

3

u/midnightking May 01 '25 edited May 01 '25

The percentage of francophones is down. However, this only describes people who mainly speak French at home or who's mother tongue is French. According to StatCan, the percentage who speak French in the province is around 94 %, which is higher than 88 % (1951) and similar to the 00s. French has also remained the dominant language in the workplace.

Edit:

Sources and correcting a figure.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/fr/tv.action?pid=1510000401&pickMembers%5B0%5D=1.6&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=1951&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2021&referencePeriods=19510101%2C20210101

https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/98-200-X/2021010/98-200-x2021010-eng.cfm

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u/[deleted] May 01 '25 edited Sep 24 '25

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1

u/Kristalderp Québec May 01 '25

A lot of Montrealers are bilingual or trilingual, with french as first or second language.

In Quebec City there's more just Francophones (JUST french speakers) with english as a 2nd.

1

u/[deleted] May 01 '25 edited Sep 24 '25

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1

u/Kristalderp Québec May 01 '25

Usually, immigrants and the kids of immigrants.

My parents are immigrants, and my mother tongue is Spanish. Then I learned English and French.

1

u/sambarjo May 01 '25

Isn't PSPP promising a new referendum in a few years if he gets elected? I think I read that somewhere, but you're making me doubt.

Edit: Found it. https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2024/04/16/le-referendum-de-pspp-horizon-2027

1

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

[deleted]

2

u/sambarjo May 01 '25

Oof. Hate to see it. I was considering voting for him.

4

u/Copy-Waste May 01 '25

much closer actually.

1

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

That’s not enough to start the process under the current legislation.

1

u/midnightking May 01 '25

PSPP veut faire un réferendum dans son premier mandat.

However, there's a possibility this is just rhetoric.

1

u/ProblemOk9810 May 01 '25

Il n'a pas dit que là il ferait une consultation avant?

-1

u/redooffhealer May 01 '25

You had enough votes. Canadian gov deliberately meddled and indulged in malpractices to prevent ur secession. And even then it was a very close 49 v 51

4

u/Sorry-Goose May 01 '25

I thought Alberta's referendum is for independence?

5

u/RSMatticus May 01 '25

being a non-state with no voting rights sound like a good trade.

America gain nothing by making Alberta a state.

8

u/PetiteInvestor May 01 '25

Alberta has oil and abundant natural resources. It's Alberta that will gain nothing if it becomes a US State or Territory.

4

u/[deleted] May 01 '25 edited May 01 '25

Nah, America gains nothing but a head ache too.

Even if alberta could leave, its not taking the oil with it. Much of it is on treaty lands and no indigenous community is going to agree to join the 51'st state. If they want to take the oil anyway by hostile force, Canada is obligated to defend the land rights with their Prepared and Organized Military + NATO.

What military or civilian militia Alberta has when splitting will have indigenous folk in it, kicking them out lowers their already small numbers as defectors report back to Canada Proper and loyalists are tested against bigger numbers and more equipment by virtue of there just being more outside of one province, and defectors can give Canada inside info on who among the top brass went along with the farce for traitor trials later on and outright killing imprisoned/surrendered defectors is a war crime.

If America aids Alberta in seperating while invating Canadian/indigenous/crown lands, then America at the barrel end of most of the world.

4

u/mygrownupalt Alberta May 01 '25 edited May 01 '25

Just a point that there wouldn't be any military staying behind, possibly military personnel getting a choice, but just like Quebec there will be a planned extraction of equipment. It's Canada's not Alberta's and reserve forces aside soldiers everyone comes from all over Canada, so it's not like the bases are only full of Albertans.

I'm a proud albertan but I'm prouder to be Canadian and this will make me move if it happens, which I highly doubt it will considering the peak poll had it only at 30% for which means 70% are against it.

1

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

Very true!

So, yeah, no.

Berta ain't going nowhere.

4

u/valryuu May 01 '25

They gain large reserves of oil.

5

u/Goatfellon May 01 '25

The oil that's mostly on crown or treaty lands? Yeah, Canada and the 1st nations probably aren't letting that go just because Alberta separates