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Colby Cosh: Failure was inevitable for Alberta separatists

Is there a time when the outcome would have been any different?

It looks as though Monday’s Alberta independence referendum, which asked voters whether the provincial government should begin secession negotiations and prepare for a second binding vote, will end up with 76 per cent of the electorate going “Remain” (Option 1 on the ballot) and just 24 per cent “Let the games begin” (Option 2). So too begins the process of the separatists talking out of both sides of their mouths about the outcome.

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“Both sides”: boy, this is an English idiom whose full import never struck me with the thunderous impact it has had this week. In the runup to the vote, many separatists emphasized that you didn’t, in fact, have to favour secession to vote for Option 2/ “(Another) Referendum.” Option 2 was (they said, hours ago) the right way to vote if you just wanted Alberta to be taken more seriously within Confederation, or to receive more advantageous treatment from it.

Colby Cosh: Failure was inevitable for Alberta separatists Back to video

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