Alberta’s summer of unrest over its role in Confederation is striding into a final phase of rallies, lawn sign rivalry and hyperbolic warnings of doom and demise.
asserted
summer → stride → doom
With one month to go before the Oct. 19 referendum, drivers going through many neighbourhoods can spot red and white lawn signs urging Albertans to vote to stand with Canada.
Blue signs are there too, supporting Alberta going its own way, but they look different.
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they → go → way
Keith Wilson, co-leader of the pro-separatist Let Alberta Decide campaign, says there’s a reason.
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Alberta → let → campaign
“We’ve had people who are supportive but don’t want to put a lawn sign on their home,” he said in an interview.
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he → have → interview
“(It’s) out of fear that their car will get keyed in the driveway.”
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car → ’ → driveway
Wilson said his team is putting resources into their digital campaign and putting up giant signs, over a metre high, on public land along roads to avoid singling out homeowners for abuse.
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team → say → abuse
“This is such a divisive issue, and it’s so emotional,” he said.
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he → ’ → ?
Cory Morgan, a political online commentator and organizer with the Pathway to Independence separatist group, said he’s accustomed to angry emails but has never been on the receiving end of the kind of threats, obscenity and vitriol as he is now.
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he → say → threats
“It’s above and beyond.”
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It → ’ → ?
Morgan said a supporter called to donate $1,000 to his group, and Morgan asked if he could put up a lawn sign.
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he → say → sign
“Oh no, I can’t do that,” Morgan said the supporter told him.
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supporter → do → him
Still, requests for his lawn signs have gone up, Morgan said, in part because more people are paying more attention to the vote.
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people → go → vote
“When they see a neighbour or two put one of those signs out, they feel more comfortable doing it as well,” said Morgan.
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Morgan → see → it
“As far as the sign war goes, I think it’ll ramp up.”
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it → go → ?
For more than a year, he has been criss-crossing the province in a pink and red RV dubbed the Unity Bus.
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he → criss → RV
Lukaszuk collected signatures to try to force a vote in the legislature on staying in Canada and, now that there’s a referendum, he’s travelling around making sure people show up to vote for Canada – and not to take it for granted that the vote will go their way.
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vote → collect → way
Recently, someone shattered a window on the bus.
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someone → shatter → bus
Lukaszuk said he has heard from people about their patriotism, sense of purpose and fear.
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he → say → purpose
“I’ve never seen as much crying, both from women and men, because they’re worried about what’s happening.”
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what → see → women
Lukaszuk said he believes almost everyone has made up their minds about the referendum.
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everyone → say → referendum
“The vote is already baked in, and it’s all about voter turnout,” he said.
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he → bake → turnout
So how did Alberta get here?
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Alberta → get → ?
In the early 1980s, it reared its head when the national energy program under former prime minister Pierre Trudeau artificially depressed oil prices in the name of Canadian sovereignty.
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program → rear → sovereignty
Oil-rich Alberta took a hit, and Albertans have not forgotten or forgiven.
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Albertans → take → hit
In late 2022, Premier Danielle Smith took the reins of the United Conservative Party and railed against Ottawa policies.
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Smith → take → policies
She said the concerns of those who wished to quit Canada were valid and needed to be addressed.
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who → say → Canada
After Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals won a minority government in April 2025, Smith’s government took action.
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government → win → action
It formed a travelling panel to let Albertans air their grievances.
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Albertans → form → grievances
It changed the rules to make it easier for citizens to launch petitions.
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citizens → change → petitions
And Smith said if someone delivered enough signatures calling for a referendum to separate, she’d call it.
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she → say → it
A separatist petition from Stay Free Alberta collected enough signatures earlier this year, but it was pushed into legal limbo after a judge ruled the government failed to consult First Nations.
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government → collect → Nations
The ruling angered Smith, who railed against judges going rogue.
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judges → anger → rogue
In May, she called the referendum question herself.
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she → call → question
The question on the ballot asks if Alberta should stay in Canada or launch a second, binding referendum on whether it’s time to formally leave the country.
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it → ask → country
The issue has sparked pockets of anger and division.
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issue → spark → anger
In the town of Sundre this summer, a parade was cancelled after organizers were harassed for excluding a wagon featuring Alberta flags that risked becoming a flashpoint of separatist sentiment.
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that → cancel → sentiment
The Alberta flag has found itself subverted into a de facto symbol of disaffection, flown at separatist rallies.
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itself → find → rallies
A separatist billboard put up by Morgan in Taber also sparked a fight with town council, which issued a takedown order.
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which → put → order
On the pro-Canada side, political luminaries from former conservative elder statesman Preston Manning to former premiers Jason Kenney and Rachel Notley have joined the fight.
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luminaries → join → fight
Carney has also participated in the campaign, recently inviting Lukaszuk to pose at a cabinet retreat in Banff and signing the Unity Bus.
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Carney → participate → Bus
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
