Alberta voters are in the middle of advance voting, October 13 to 17, ahead of an October 19 referendum on whether the province should begin a process that could eventually lead to a binding vote on separation from Canada.
The ballot question has caused widespread confusion, and CBC explainers stress what the vote is and is not: a 'leave' result would not separate Alberta immediately, but would start a legal and political process. Treaty rights of Indigenous nations are among the legal issues analysts say any process would have to confront.
Polling suggests separation starts from well behind. A Leger survey conducted October 2 to 4 found 70 per cent of Albertans want to remain in Canada and 22 per cent favour starting the process; other recent surveys have put remain support between roughly six and seven in ten voters.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has urged national unity as the vote approaches. The margin, and the turnout among the most certain voters on each side, will decide whether the result reads as a decisive stay, a narrow stay, or the start of a much longer constitutional fight.
