A banner in support of Alberta separatism is seen on Parliament Hill. Photo courtesy Alberta Prosperity Project/X.

The Republic of Alberta: The Idea That Won’t Go Away Tyler Dawson Sutherland Books, 2026

The Republic of Alberta: The Idea That Won’t Go Away

Sutherland Books, 2026

In spite of the controversy and resistance, Alberta will hold a referendum on October 19, with a question on separation from Canada appearing as the final item on a ten-question ballot. The questions are divided into three categories—immigration, constitutional issues, and separation—and are all aimed at increasing Alberta’s control over its own affairs. Due to recent court rulings, the province is prohibited from directly asking Albertans whether they support separation from Canada. Instead, it has circumvented this obstacle by asking voters whether they would support holding a future referendum on the issue.

The question of Alberta separating from Canada often feels convoluted and has generated considerable media drama. Is it the project of an ultra-right fringe that has found a voice through anti-Trudeau grievances? Or does it reflect the legitimate concerns of a significant portion of Albertans who have felt alienated from Canada for generations? Tyler Dawson, an Edmonton-based reporter, grapples with these questions and offers some answers in his 100-page pamphlet, The Republic of Alberta: The Idea That Won’t Go Away.

Dawson immediately reminds readers that separation is not a new discussion in Alberta, nor has it always been associated with the political right. From the province’s inception in 1905, through the rise of the United Farmers of Alberta and the early years of William Aberhart’s Social Credit government, Alberta repeatedly sought greater control over its own affairs and resisted interference from Ottawa. The SoCreds (1935-71) went so far as to attempt to regulate the banks. Much to their irritation, the federal government invoked its power of disallowance to override provincial legislation. Outrage followed. Former Premier Jason Kenney has noted that this early resistance to Ottawa gave rise to an agrarian populism that laid the groundwork for western separatism.

According to Dawson, feelings of isolation and alienation persisted during Peter Lougheed’s government in the 1970s and 1980s, but the separatist impulse as a political movement receded with the creation and popularity of the federal Reform Party in the late 1980s. Led by Preston Manning, Reform gave Alberta’s concerns and demands for western representation a more visible seat at........

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