Alberta's Nonbinding Vote Asks Whether to Ask Again
Alberta's nonbinding referendum vote on Monday is the first time the province has put the question of separation to a public vote, and Elections Alberta has described it as the largest electoral event in the province's history. Essentially, it is a referendum about whether to hold another referendum.
The first nine questions on the ballot address immigration, access to provincial services such as health care and education, and potential changes to the Canadian Constitution.
Wesley's version of the irony is that separatists frustrated by the inability to change the Constitution are using that as a pretext to leave, while leaving would require changing the same Constitution with a much higher threshold for agreement.
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The Constitution is doing a lot of work here: the same document that frustrates separatists sets a bar for departure far higher than anything a protest vote can clear.
The symbolic move still counts for something, though. A nonbinding vote that is the first time the province has put separation to the public — and that Elections Alberta calls its largest electoral event — makes the question hard to ignore even if it is not a plan to actually leave.