A campaign sign for the Alberta Independence movement at a petition-signing location in High River on Feb. 5.Todd Korol/Reuters
Colin MacLeod is a Calgary-based independence activist and writer and a guest columnist for the Western Standard.
As an Albertan who has spent years exploring our province’s history and its complex ties to the rest of Canada, I have seen the independence movement evolve from frustrations expressed quietly to a petition drive that’s now drawing attention from around the world.
Support for Alberta independence sits around 30 per cent in polls, and signatures are mounting for a referendum under the Clarity Act. We’ve even caught the attention of the U.S. government.
Why this momentum, and why at this moment? From our roots in early Western discontent to today’s economic and political pressures, this is a story of long-held grievances finally finding a voice.
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Our identity as Albertans is rooted in a large landscape, from the Rocky Mountains to wide prairies and northern boreal forests. Our “cowboy” culture weaves together Indigenous traditions with successive waves of European and American settlement.
The Louis Riel Rebellions of 1869-70 and 1885 were early sparks of resistance: the Red River uprising fought for land rights, while the North-West Rebellion at places like Batoche and Duck Lake challenged Ottawa’s remote rule that overlooked Western needs and was changing their way of life.
These moments echo in recent actions, such as the 2022 Freedom Convoy and the Coutts blockade, where truckers and others pushed back against perceived federal overreach in the same spirit of defending autonomy that Riel embodied.
In the years following 1905, when Alberta became a province, American immigrants comprised between one-fifth and one-quarter of all Albertans.
Self-reliance and independence are in our DNA. At the time, Sir Frederick Haultain pushed for a unified Western entity to counter federal dominance, but, with considerable foresight, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier carved us up instead.
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The discontent simmered through the decades. John Brownlee fought for control of our resources in the 1920s (and won by 1930). William Aberhart fought for financial reform during the dust bowl of 1930s, only to be denied by Central Canada’s financial interests. During the National Energy Policy fiasco, Peter Lougheed even throttled the oil taps in 1980 to try and gain concessions from Trudeau Sr. Preston Manning tried a more conciliatory approach in the 1980s, with his slogan “The West Wants In!”
Over the years, there have been many strategies suggested to mollify westerners in general and Albertans in particular: Senate reform or the end of equalization, for example. But even Stephen Harper could not amend the Senate: his bid was blocked by the Supreme Court. Today, the “7/50” rule would effectively neutralize any Western-led constitutional changes. These disputes, and the seeming inability of the West to effect change, gave way to outright separatist sentiments, fuelled by policies that treated us as a revenue source without fair return or political influence.
A crowd fills the Big Four Roadhouse in Calgary during a gathering of supporters of Alberta separation on Jan. 26.Amir Salehi/The Globe and Mail
Take equalization: More than $244.6-billion was paid into federal coffers by Albertans between 2007 and 2022 – that’s money for other provinces’ infrastructure as our own crumbles. Alberta, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation estimates, has received just 0.02 per cent of all equalization payments since the program began in 1957. In 2021, Alberta had a referendum on the equalization program, with 62 per cent voting to change it.
It was completely ignored by the rest of Canada.
Add in carbon taxes, the pipeline hurdles created by Bill C-69, threatened emissions caps, pending suppression of online activity, Eastern reliance on foreign oil imports despite our vast reserves, and it is clear: policies from afar hamstring Alberta’s prosperity.
Politically, today, Alberta’s independence movement is a genuine grassroots effort. Independence parties have historically struggled. But changes to Alberta legislation to make it easier for citizens to get referendums held have given these grassroots the opportunity to push for independence and greater control over resources, taxes and regulations. This message is increasingly resonating.
Why now, in 2026? The petition, approved last year, aims for just shy of 178,000 signatures to trigger a referendum. If successful, Alberta could see a referendum by October. There is a structured path to independence under the federal Clarity Act, and there are peaceful precedents in Czechoslovakia’s 1993 Velvet Divorce or Norway-Sweden in 1905.
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Town halls are packed, the line ups to sign the petition are long, and coverage from outlets such as the BBC and Fox News frame it as a test of Canadian unity. U.S. developments are adding fuel: Donald Trump’s administration views our oil sands as a strategic asset against global rivals, while Prime Minister Mark Carney’s international deals, like those with China and Qatar, clash with our priorities and feel like yet another assault on our province.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s comments on Alberta being a “natural partner” for the U.S. spark ideas of closer ties south, to which we export 88 per cent of our energy. The anti-American rhetoric pumped out by the mainstream media does not sit well with most conservative Albertans. Back at home, Premier Danielle Smith’s Sovereignty Act empowers us to challenge federal laws, increasing awareness and taking tentative, small steps toward autonomy.
Polls indicate the movement is not just made up of older Albertans. Angus Reid Institute pollsters found recently that 21 per cent of Albertans under the age of 35 are eyeing a future unburdened by equalization and with lower taxes.
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Social media amplifies it all, with threads on economic disparities, federal government environmental activism, the clear economic favouritism towards Quebec, not to mention the arrogance of those who criticize us as a “Maple MAGA” movement or, in the case of B.C. Premier David Eby, call us traitors.
Skeptics rightly point to real challenges: support has not reached a majority, independence carries economic risks like disrupted supply chains and trade uncertainties, and constitutional hurdles under the Clarity Act remain steep.
But from where I stand in downtown Calgary, this is not impulsive – it’s the logical culmination of a century and a half of historical dissent against distant Laurentian control.
The pattern is unmistakable: a federation that takes our wealth, ignores our voice, and imposes policies shaped thousands of kilometres away. We have tried every avenue of reform: Senate reform, Fair-Deal panels, a referendum on equalization, negotiations, Firewall Letters, MOUs, sovereignty legislation. Yet we still find ourselves treated as a very junior partner at best, a resource colony at worst.
Now, the moment has arrived. This is Alberta’s chance: not to break something recklessly, but to finally decide our own future, to freely develop our ample resources, on our own terms, free from the grip that has constrained us for far too long.