On April 28th, the result of the 2025 Federal Election disappointed Alberta and raised concerns about a potential separation between Alberta and Canada. According to new polls, 30% of Albertans would agree to separate from Canada. The movement is expected to get even bigger as the Liberal government continues to piss off Albertans.

Canada’s legal system allows provinces to do such a thing legally. For example, the same thing almost happened with Quebec in 1980 and 1995. For a separation to occur, Alberta needs to hold a referendum and have the majority of its people agree(50 %+).

Danielle Smith, current Premier of Alberta, stands with her people firmly and has changed policies to facilitate a referendum. She altered the referendum threshold from 600,000 to 177,000 signatures. Furthermore, her government extended the deadline to get those signatures from 90 to 120 days.

“A large majority of Albertans are deeply frustrated that the same government that overtly attacked our provincial economy almost unabated for the past 10 years has been returned to government,” Smith wrote on Tuesday morning, breaking her silence on the election’s outcome.

Here are a few key points explaining Alberta’s desire to claim independence.

The lack of a fair representation in government 

In fact, Alberta has 37 federal seats for a population of around 4.44 million. In comparison, the Maritime provinces, with 2.46 million, have 32 federal seats, which means each voter in Atlantic Canada has 55% more representation than an Albertan voter. It isn’t normal for a province that contributes heavily to the economy of Canada to be represented that poorly.

An unbalanced equalization of wealth

To continue on that path, the way the equalization of wealth is distributed is pretty unfair to Albertans. They are not rewarded enough for their financial contribution, which helps to sustain other provinces. To formulate it differently, it is as if Alberta brings a lot of money to the federal government, and they redistribute it equally elsewhere in Canada. The people in Alberta are tired of funding other Canadian provinces that don’t align with their core values. “No taxation without representation” was a political slogan used by American Patriots in the Thirteen Colonies.

The inability of the liberal party to generate economic growth

Also, the LPC has been in power for the last ten years(2015-2025) and has neglected what Albertans truly want: building new pipelines to develop and expand their economy. The western province is rich in natural resources such as coal, gas, and oil. It would be a shame to waste these in the name of climate change, which is precisely what Mr.Carney promotes.

However, if the liberal government and Alberta can find common ground on different issues, mainly Alberta’s economic growth, the separation probably won’t happen. It is left to the federal government not to cross the line and anger Albertans even more.