Alberta Voters turn DOWN Leaving the Canadian Union….

Canada STAYS United……

Residents of Alberta voted on Monday to remain part of Canada, rejecting a campaign to try to separate the oil-rich western province from the rest of the country.

Voters in a referendum endorsed remaining in Canada over the option of holding a second vote on whether to secede, the public broadcaster CBC News projected late Monday evening local time.

With just over a third of votes counted, 76 percent of voters chose to remain part of Canada with 23 percent seeking another vote.

The referendum reflected the province’s long history of resentment toward the central government but also more recent discontents. Many of the separatist leaders became politically prominent by organizing large protests against restrictions during the Covid pandemic.

Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed the result.

“Albertans chose Canada,” he said in a statement. “All Canadians will move forward together with renewed purpose and high ambition.”…

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In a speech to supporters in Edmonton, the provincial capital, Thomas Lukaszuk, a former provincial lawmaker whose Forever Canadian organization led the campaign to oppose secession, addressed President Trump. The vote, he said, “will send a very strong message to the rest of the world: Don’t mess with Canada.”

Unlike in Quebec, a province that held two unsuccessful votes on leaving Canada, secessionist sentiments have always been a minority viewpoint in Alberta. Still, opponents of separatism worried before the vote that voters might support holding a second referendum to show their unhappiness with the province’s relationship with Canada, even if they did not want to secede…..

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