'We're Canadians': Some Albertans divided about separation in cross-province checkup

Row after row of Canadian flags fly high atop tall poles over manicured lawns in a southern Alberta town that's also home to the province's premier, her husband and their dog.

Kathleen Sokvitne has lived on the street in High River, Alta., about 60 kilometres south of Calgary, for 30 years.

She says those flags show that not all Albertans agree with renewed efforts to secede from the country.

"Suggestions that the number of people wanting to separate is growing worries me," said Sokvitne, standing on her driveway.

Sokvitne said statements by Premier Danielle Smith, as well as her government's introduction of a bill making it easier for citizens to trigger referendums, enable separatists. Smith has said those wanting to separate are frustrated with Ottawa and "are not fringe voices."

"She is manipulating the people of this province into believing that we should seriously look at separating," Sokvitne said. "It is just ludicrous. Not all of us think like that. I absolutely disagree."

After speaking to a number of residents across Alberta — from High River in the south to Edmonton in the north — opinions on separatism are just as diverse as the province itself.

Some Albertans are frustrated with Ottawa, and a small margin wants to secede. Others argue that separation would be reckless.

Just a few blocks away from Sokvitne's home, musician Richard Engler sips coffee with his friends outside a local diner, as he said he agreed with Smith.

The premier has said she doesn't support separating from Canada, but that Albertans have genuine grievances with the federal government.

"Deep down, though, we're Canadians," said Engler, 76.

Engler said the frustration stems from historical and current grievances some people, including his own family, have against Ottawa.

"Western Canadians have been penalized for living out here," he said. "We need our jobs ... we need the infrastructure and we need the energy corridors to be able to do all that."

North of High River in downtown Okotoks, a bedroom community of Calgary, the owner of a cellphone repair shop says those grievances can be resolved through conversations.

"I love to live in Canada and I don't want to separate," said Muhammad Iqbal, owner of We Fix Phones.

Iqbal, 39, said he immigrated to Ontario from Pakistan in 2001 before moving to Calgary in 2008. He said Canada should be more appreciated by Canadians because it has allowed generations of immigrants like him to prosper.

"This whole separatism thing ... I don't know why it's happening and on what grounds."

Further north in Didsbury, business owner Jim Penner said separating would be reckless.

"Grievances should be negotiated and worked through rather than going to the extreme of threatening to leave," he said from inside his business, Didsbury Computers.

"There's absolutely no benefit that I could see from (separating) financially or politically."

Penner, 60, said his family has lived in Didsbury since his grandfather moved there.

His father, who was a farmer and a vocal separatist, didn't agree with the way the government controlled him and his livelihood, so Penner said he understands where frustrations might be coming from.

"Alberta and the West have been ostracized in many ways. I can understand. I'm not happy with the way the federal government has done things," he said. "But let's work on it as reasonable adults and not throw a temper tantrum."

But in an interview at a Tim Hortons in Gasoline Alley, a popular transportation corridor north of Didsbury, Republican Party of Alberta Leader Cameron Davies said separatists aren't throwing one.

His party is calling for a referendum on whether Alberta should separate. Davies, 35, said separation would give Alberta the chance to renew its relationship with Canada and the rest of the world on its own terms.

"It's no different than being in an abusive, toxic relationship," he said. "We have to leave that relationship, and we can re-establish relationships or not with boundaries."

Davies said his party's membership has doubled to 20,000 members since the federal election that saw Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal minority government re-elected.

He said most members are between 25 and 45 years old and feel that previous Liberal governments have made life difficult.

He said they feel like the system is working against them.

"Young people are increasingly finding it more and more challenging to buy their first home, to afford day-to-day living," he said. "Hockey and nostalgia don't pay the bills and it's not going to keep Canada together."

Jesse Allen, 22, a pastor in Lloydminster, a town straddling the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary and incorporated by both provinces, said while sitting a few tables away from Davies at the café that he agreed.

"Albertans have no say, no voice at the table and that needs to change," he said.

He said, however, he would only vote "Yes" in a referendum to separate if the rest of Western Canada, including B.C. and Saskatchewan, also joined Alberta.

In Red Deer, Alta., Anita Ewan, 34, a professor at Capilano University and mother of seven children, questioned why Alberta's government was engaging with the separatist cause in the first place.

Ewan, 34, said she also works with marginalized people and seniors. She wonders what would happen to them if Alberta separated from Canada.

"Separation would reinforce that gap that already exists," she said. "Marginalized people will be further marginalized."

In a hamlet east of Edmonton, Sherwood Park resident Karen McClain said she wants Albertans to work with Ottawa instead of threatening to leave.

"The squeaky wheel gets the grease," she said.

"The more noise you make, the more that message gets out and it sounds like everybody wants (separatism), when it's a small number of people."

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh