WAINWRIGHT/CZAR/HANNA/DRUMHELLER/CALGARY, Alta.—While a strong majority of Albertans voted for the province to remain within Canada, voters on both sides say the issue isn’t going away.
“I don’t think it’s going anywhere. It might be dormant for a couple years, but I think it'll be back,” pro-separation voter Callahan Charlton of Czar, Alta., told The Epoch Times, after casting his vote at a polling station in his town, located about 250 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.
Edmonton resident Cody Roberts, who voted for Alberta to stay within Canada, said he thinks those who believe firmly in separation will continue to be active.
“People are definitely going to be holding on to their opinions,” he said.
Vicky Noronha of Drumheller, Alta., who isn’t disclosing how she voted, similarly thought that the issue is here to stay.
“It might die down a little bit, but I don’t think it’s going to go away,” she said. “To be honest, there’s enough people that are going to make enough noise about it to keep it going.”
The Oct. 19 referendum asked voters whether Alberta should remain in Canada or start the process of holding a legally binding referendum on separation.
Preliminary results show about 76 percent of voters want the province to remain a part of Canada, while 24 percent want a binding referendum on separation.
Callahan Charlton stands outside a polling station in Czar, Alta., on Oct. 19, 2026. Paul Rowan Brian/The Epoch Times
‘We’ve Been Used as an ATM’
Support for separation differs sharply between rural and urban voters, with significantly higher support among rural Albertans.
Czar resident Danny Dambrowsky, who like many others in his town supports separation, also said that the movement isn’t going away.
“We’ve been used as an ATM, except we don’t even have a say because we don’t agree with most of Canada,“ he said, pointing to the national equalization program that Alberta is a net-contributor to. ”So maybe if we don’t agree, maybe we should just move on.”
In Hanna, Alta., a small town about 200 kilometres northeast of Calgary, Darcy Vold who works in the oil and gas industry said he strongly supports Alberta independence and believes the separatist movement will “absolutely not” lose momentum.
“I don’t think it will die down to be honest. People are fed up and I only hope this builds the movement stronger,” he told The Epoch Times outside a polling station in Hanna.
He said he supports Alberta independence because “the West doesn’t have a say in federal elections.”
“If you’re outside the GTA your concerns are blown off, the election is over by the time it hits Ontario,” Vold said.
Voters enter the Royal Canadian Legion in Wainwright, Alta., on Oct. 19, 2026, to vote in the provincial referendum. Paul Rowan Brian/The Epoch Times
‘A Waste of Taxpayers’ Money’
Kat Smith of Wainwright, about 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, said she backs staying in Canada but doesn’t believe the Oct. 19 referendum will settle the issue.
“There’s too much history in Alberta to leave it all behind,” she said.
Many of those opposed to separation objected to the question about separation being included on the referendum ballot, saying it wasn’t necessary.
Hanna resident Rhonda King said she supports the province’s governing United Conservative Party but doesn’t agree with the necessity of holding a referendum. She backs staying in Canada.
“I feel like it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money, even holding this referendum. But I’m here to make my voice known,” she said in an interview with The Epoch Times outside a polling station.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith added the separation-related question to the province’s previously scheduled Oct. 19 referendum in May, saying people on both sides of the issue had collected hundreds of thousands of petition signatures.
While pro-independence supporters said they had collected over 300,000 signatures, their application to Elections Alberta for a referendum on the issue was halted by a court, which ruled that the process could not proceed because First Nations had not been properly consulted.
Smith called the court’s decision undemocratic. Although her government appealed the ruling, she said the process could take months or possibly years, and she wanted to allow citizens to use the democratic process to have their petition put to a referendum. Her decision was criticized by the opposition NDP, who said it creates uncertainty and wastes provincial resources.
The 10-question referendum also included proposals to give the province more control over immigration and other policy areas, as well as constitutional reforms, including abolishing the Senate. Smith has said she wants Alberta to remain within Canada but urged residents to vote “Yes” on the other proposals to increase the province’s autonomy.
A referendum voting station at the Marshall Springs School in Calgary on Oct. 19, 2026. Carlos Herrera for The Epoch Times
In Calgary, Kartik Bharti said he voted to remain in Canada, adding that he voted yes on some of the other nine questions.
He said he was vocal with his friends to vote yes on giving Alberta more control over immigration.
“Being an immigrant myself, I completely agree that the immigration at a certain level went way out of control,” he said.
As for the referendum on separation, Bharti said the fact that it’s even being held at all concerns him, as he says it creates uncertainty.
“I remember the situation with Quebec. It happened, and we all know all the multinational companies ended up pulling their funding. Their corporate headquarters moved to Toronto. Imagine the same thing happening in Calgary,” he said in an interview.
Roberts, the Edmonton resident, said he doesn’t feel the referendum was necessary and that separation would be costly and disruptive. On the nine questions, he said that while some address what he considers valid provincial concerns, he doesn’t support giving Alberta’s government more authority, saying he’s concerned with its policy directions.
“I’ve not seen that this sitting government has used what power they have very justly,” he said.
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