With just days before Alberta’s vote on an independence referendum, longtime Quebec sovereigntists are distancing themselves from the western province’s separatists.
asserted
sovereigntists → distance → separatists
Question 10 of 10 on Monday’s referendum ballot asks whether Alberta should remain in Canada or if the government should start the legal process to hold a subsequent, binding referendum on separation.
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government → ask → separation
Advance polls opened Tuesday and run until Saturday.
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polls → open → Saturday
Quebecers may have a sense of déjà vu after voting on a similar question in 1980, when René Lévesque’s Parti Québécois asked whether the province should begin negotiations to leave Confederation.
uncertain
province → have → Confederation
A second referendum followed in 1995, narrowly won by the “No” side.
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referendum → follow → side
But ardent sovereigntists see profound differences in the two movements.
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sovereigntists → see → movements
Marie-Anne Alepin, president of the Société St-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal, a prominent Quebec nationalist group, believes Alberta is using the threat of separatism as leverage in negotiations with Ottawa.
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Alberta → believe → Ottawa
She sees the referendum as a means of pressure rather than a genuine desire to form a country.
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She → see → country
“They want a bigger role within Canada and we want to leave,” she said.
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she → want → Canada
“They want more control over their oil and gas … we don’t want pipelines.”
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we → want → pipelines
But that hasn’t stopped some leaders in the Alberta separatist movement from claiming common cause.
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that → stop → cause
Quebec elected the PQ — which has promised a third independence referendum — to a minority government on Oct. 5, leading figures in the Alberta separatist movement to rally behind premier-designate Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and declare him a possible ally.
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him → elect → Plamondon
“Quebec rejected the status quo today,” wrote columnist Cory Morgan — a founding member of the Alberta Independence Party in 2001 — on social media after the PQ’s victory.
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Morgan → reject → victory
“Alberta can do the same in two weeks by choosing to send a message with Option 2 on Question 10.”
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Alberta → do → Question
Alberta separatist Jeffrey Rath also took to social media the day after the provincial election, saying that “for the first time in history, Alberta Independence will have the support of the elected government of Quebec.”
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Independence → take → Quebec
He also congratulated St-Pierre Plamondon and “the country of Quebec.”
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He → congratulate → Quebec
The two, along with lawyer Keith Wilson, lamented that Quebec’s quest for independence is seen as legitimate while they say Alberta separatists are sneered at.
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separatists → lament → independence
During a visit to Calgary last year, St-Pierre Plamondon said he would recognize an independent Alberta should the province vote to separate.
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province → say → Alberta
Rath said he met with the PQ leader during that visit.
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he → say → visit
But while they believe in the democratic process of a referendum, many Quebec sovereigntists do not identify with the Alberta separatists.
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sovereigntists → believe → separatists
Former PQ leader Jean-François Lisée did not mince words when asked about Monday’s referendum.
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Lisée → mince → referendum
“It’s mostly a waste because defeat is certain,” he said.
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he → ’ → ?
It’s a feeling shared by other sovereigntists.
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It → ’ → sovereigntists
Louise Harel, who was a PQ minister during Quebec’s 1995 sovereignty referendum and later served as interim leader of the party, agrees with Lisée.
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who → serve → Lisée
Both say the Quebec and Alberta sovereigntist movements are fundamentally different.
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movements → say → ?
In their view, Quebec sovereigntists are motivated to preserve their cultural and linguistic identity, while Alberta separatists are motivated by the economy and political libertarianism.
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separatists → motivate → economy
They also see a desire for Alberta to get closer to the United States, while Quebecers are wary of talk of assimilation.
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Quebecers → see → assimilation
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has repeatedly said she is against secession, while PQ leaders have openly called for sovereignty.
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leaders → say → sovereignty
“In Quebec, the idea is to give a unique historical nation in North America, which … has valiantly resisted assimilation, the powers it needs to survive in a globalized world,” said Harel.
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Harel → give → world
While sovereigntist Quebecers also feel economically disadvantaged within Canada, Lisée said, the sentiment isn’t at the core of the movement.
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sentiment → feel → movement
He also stressed that Quebec’s sovereigntist parties have historically been social-democrat, while the movement in Alberta seems tied to conservatism.
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movement → stress → conservatism
Daniel Turp, a Université de Montréal law professor who represented both the Bloc Québécois and the PQ, sees differences in the referendum process itself.
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who → represent → process
Quebec’s two independence referendums included a single question on sovereignty.
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referendums → include → sovereignty
Public support for independence also varies widely between the two provinces.
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support → vary → provinces
On the eve of the 1995 referendum, public opinion was split evenly in the polls.
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opinion → split → polls
Three days before Quebecers cast their ballots, Canadians from across the country made their way to Montreal to urge them to vote against independence.
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Canadians → cast → independence
Poll aggregator 338Canada shows less than 25 per cent support for Alberta to leave Canada as of Oct. 11.
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Alberta → show → Oct.
“There hasn’t been a love-in in Alberta yet,” Turp said.
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Turp → say → Alberta
“Maybe we’re not as worried because the polls show the option to remain will win.”
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option → ’re → ?
More than 90 per cent of registered voters cast a ballot in the 1995 referendum, which federalists won with 50.58 per cent of the vote.
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federalists → register → vote
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
