ALBERTA RESIDENTS VOTE ON POSSIBLE REFERENDUM ON INDEPENDENCE

EDMONTON, OCTOBER 19 /SRNA/ – Residents of the Canadian province of Alberta are voting today on whether to initiate the process of calling a binding referendum on independence.

Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that a victory for the separatist option would create dangerous uncertainty at a time when a trade war with the USA is ongoing.

Polls show that less than a quarter of residents of this western Canadian province support independence. Nevertheless, attention ahead of the vote is focused on turnout and whether the motivated separatist group, amid the passivity of federalists, can achieve an unexpected result.

The ballot offers Alberta residents two options: to remain part of Canada or to begin the legal process for holding a referendum on secession, Al Jazeera reported.

Voting for the second option does not mean that Alberta would immediately become an independent state.

Any province seeking to secede would first have to go through complex negotiations with the federal government in Ottawa, other provinces, and Indigenous peoples living in and around Alberta.

Alberta has the world's fourth-largest oil reserves, and the separatist movement has been fuelled by dissatisfaction with the federal government's management of the sector.

Conservative Premier Danielle Smith said she wants the province to remain part of Canada but called the referendum to finally resolve this contentious issue.

She promised that if a majority votes for secession, she would initiate the process for a binding referendum.

If the federalists win, Smith believes the secession issue should be considered closed.