Alberta Premier Danielle Smith faced the media on Wednesday for the first time since her province's referendum, in which voters decisively rejected starting a process toward separation from Canada, CBC News reported.
Unofficial results posted by Elections Alberta showed 941,204 votes for the option that Alberta should remain a province in Canada, against 288,259 votes for beginning the legal process toward a later binding separation vote — roughly 76 per cent for remaining. CBC projected the remain result on Monday night. Official results are scheduled for October 29.
Smith, who called the referendum while saying she herself voted to remain, has pledged to honour the outcome and said she will not hold a second separation referendum while she remains premier. She has called the result a reset in Alberta's relationship with Ottawa, while continuing to press provincial grievances within Confederation.
The referendum contained ten questions in all. Only the tenth dealt with remaining in Canada or starting down the separation path; the other nine covered immigration rules and constitutional changes, and counting on those questions has continued through the week.
Prime Minister Mark Carney had campaigned in the province urging Albertans to vote to stay, and he welcomed the result as a show of national unity. Analysts say the size of the remain margin takes the separation question off the table for now, though the debate over Alberta's nine other demands is only beginning.
