'They have a real reason': Maxime Bernier on Alberta's rising independence movement

The People's Party of Canada leader says Mark Carney is unwilling to address the serious concerns being raised by those advocating for an independent Alberta.

On Friday's live stream, People's Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier joined David Menzies and Drea Humphrey to discuss the future of Alberta's independence movement and its root causes.

Bernier explained that Albertans have several legitimate grievances with the federal government that have been left unaddressed for decades.

"For Albertans, you have the equalization formula against you, you have all these national programs that you're paying ... like daycare, pharma care, and dental care, it's under provincial exclusive jurisdiction, and the federal government is interfering there," he said.

"You cannot build pipelines in this country, so they have a real reason. But for why I will support the 'yes' side, because we need a constitutional crisis to be sure that these establishment political parties will take Alberta seriously and not for granted," Bernier continued.

The People's Party of Canada leader also asserted that Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre are both hesitant to speak about the "big concerns" in Alberta.

"They don't want to speak about that. They don't want to acknowledge that there's big concerns in Alberta. We have a satellite federal government that is not respecting the constitution," he said.

"Albertans may have a referendum this fall, and when you have 30% of the population, that's huge," Bernier added.

Leaders of Alberta's independence movement are currently collecting signatures through a petition drive in order to trigger a potential referendum on separation later this year. The petition drive will require 177,732 signatures (10% of the votes cast in the previous provincial general election) to trigger a possible referendum.

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COMMENTS

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  • Bernhard Jatzeck
    commented 2026-02-02 23:08:52 -0500
    1867, Bruce? Try earlier than that, going back to the days of the Family Compact.
  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2026-02-02 19:59:02 -0500
    Albertans do have a real reason for wanting to leave the toxic relationship of confederation. Ottawa is stuck in 1867. They don’t recognize that the west has grown up and wants independence from the nanny state.