Alberta’s referendum may look familiar to anyone who remembers Scotland’s 2014 independence vote, but the two referendums are asking voters to make very different decisions.
Albertans are voting today on 10 referendum questions, including whether the provincial government should begin negotiations with the Government of Canada to establish Alberta as a sovereign country.
How is Scotland’s election different from Alberta’s?
That wording differs from the question put to Scottish voters in 2014, which asked whether Scotland should be an independent country.
Scotland is part of the United Kingdom, alongside England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Although Scotland has its own national identity, government and soccer team, it is not an independent country.
“Scotland was asked very directly whether it should be an independent country. Alberta’s question is asking whether the government should begin negotiations with the federal government to establish Alberta as a sovereign country. So that’s quite different,” said Scottish dentist Esme Jardine, who voted against Scottish independence in 2014.
Jardine researched Alberta’s referendum and its wording before the interview to understand how the province’s proposed vote compares with Scotland’s experience.
What happened in Scotland?
Scotland’s independence campaign attracted considerable support, with 45 per cent of voters backing independence despite the campaign ultimately being unsuccessful, wrote Piers Eaton in The Conversation article Why Alberta’s push for independence pales in comparison to Scotland’s in 2014.
For Jardine, the 2014 referendum was about deciding what future she believed was best for Scotland. Scotland ultimately voted against independence, with 55 per cent voting No and 45 per cent voting Yes.
Why was the result so close?
“Voting No didn’t mean I was less Scottish or didn’t care about Scotland. It just meant I didn’t believe independence was the best option,” Jardine said.
Jardine said she understood why some Scots wanted greater control over decisions affecting their country, but she was not convinced independence was worth the uncertainty it could bring.
“I still think Scotland can have its own identity and have a strong voice without necessarily becoming an independent country. I was never against Scotland having more powers or making more of its own decisions, but I wasn’t convinced that independence was worth the uncertainty that came with it. So, yeah, looking back, I would still vote No,” Jardine said.
While both votes involve questions about sovereignty and a region’s relationship with a larger country, the differences in their wording are important.
Unlike Scottish voters in 2014, Albertans are not being asked to decide whether their province should immediately become an independent country. Instead, a Yes vote would give the Alberta government a mandate to begin negotiations, leaving the question of what comes next still very much unanswered.