Hey, Alberta — Canada is calling. And the country wants you to stick around.

One reason is widespread fear that the U.S. will gobble up any province that separates, suggests new polling from the Angus Reid Institute.

The U.S. looms gigantically over the whole issue.

Seventy-nine per cent say that the Americans would “definitely” or “probably” compel Alberta by political means to join the U.S.

More ominously, 55 per cent feel the U.S. would definitely or probably use military force to take over Alberta.

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The same fear exists for Quebec, but is not quite as intense.

Forty-six per cent of Canadians feel the U.S. would use political means to acquire that province. Forty-four per cent foresee military action.

Reid sums up: “If either were to separate, the common sentiment is that the United States would apply significant pressure to absorb or influence the new independent nation.”

That’s surely one reason, although far from the only one, why national support for preserving Confederation posts big majorities in every province (including Alberta and Quebec).

In B.C., 83 per cent would keep Alberta on board.

Even in Saskatchewan, where anti-Ottawa feeling can run hotter than it does in Alberta, 62 per cent do not want Alberta to separate.

That’s as low as it gets. The keep-Alberta figure is 82 per cent in Manitoba, 84 per cent in Ontario, and 83 per cent across Atlantic Canada.

The percentages for Quebec staying in Canada are lower but they’re still in majority territory everywhere (including 58 per cent of Albertans wanting Quebec to remain).

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Seventy-two per cent of Quebecers want Alberta to stick around.

Those are odd opinions from provinces allegedly hell-bent for independence.

(An earlier Reid survey showed that 65 per cent of Albertans would vote to remain if a referendum were held now. The “Stay” vote is 63 per cent in Quebec.)

This majority opinion prevails everywhere, the Angus Reid Institute says in its last of three important polls on independence.

The key finding is that if independence were possible, the “vast majority of Canadians would block Quebec (71 per cent) or Alberta (79) per cent, from separating.”

The conclusion is obvious — across Canada there’s rock-solid majority opinion for rejecting separation of any province.

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One finding might be galling even to federalist Albertans, most of whom believe their province is a net payer into the national economy.

Most others don’t buy that argument.

“The view that Alberta is a net contributor is held by many in Alberta (56 per cent) and Saskatchewan (52 per cent) but fewer Canadians overall (29 per cent),” the survey says.

Only 13 per cent of Canadians believe Saskatchewan gives more than it gets. That drops to 12 per cent for Ontario and nine per cent for Quebec.

Apparently, Canadians don’t believe any province is horribly ripped off by Confederation.

Finally, there’s the question of pride in Canada.

Sixty-one per cent of Albertans say they’re proud or somewhat proud. That’s surprisingly close to the level of pride in most provinces from B.C. through to Ontario.

Quebec is somewhat lower, at 47 per cent, while Atlantic Canada is the pride champion at 74 per cent.

The poll shows that strong forces still hold Canada together, even in the provinces with separatist movements.

It also suggests that if separatism ever comes close to reality, the rest of the country will push back hard.

To finally accept the independence of Alberta or Quebec, seven provinces with 50 per cent of the population would have to formally endorse a constitutional amendment.

What are the chances that any other province would agree, when their own populations are so powerfully opposed?

Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald

X and Bluesky: @DonBraid

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