Ottawa is breaking Canada—and half of Westerners say maybe it's time we let them

A new survey shows a significant portion of Albertans and Saskatchewanians are prepared to leave Canada over the federal government's crushing restrictions on the provinces' natural resources.

Let’s cut through the political spin and get right to the truth: Alberta and Saskatchewan didn’t break Canada. Ottawa did.

And if this country comes apart at the seams, it won’t be because Western Canada walked away — it’ll be because the Laurentian elite shoved us toward the door.

This week, the Angus Reid Institute dropped a bombshell, 50% of Albertans and Saskatchewanians now say they support holding a referendum on independence.

In Alberta, 36% say they’d vote to leave; in Saskatchewan, it’s 34%.

And while the hardcore “definitely leave” crowd sits at 19% in Alberta and 15% in Saskatchewan, that still represents hundreds of thousands of people ready to exit Confederation today.

Let that sink in. That’s not fringe. That’s a movement — one Ottawa built with its own arrogance.

Why is this happening? Because Ottawa refuses to listen. Refuses to change. Refuses to respect us.

Instead, we get:

  • Bill C-69, the no-more-pipelines law, still on the books

  • A suffocating emissions cap that targets Alberta and Saskatchewan while letting global polluters off the hook

  • No national vision for an east-west pipeline, leaving our energy landlocked and our people unemployed

And what does the poll show? That we’re not unmovable separatists — we’re desperate realists. According to Angus Reid:

  • 69% of Alberta “leave” voters and 61% in Saskatchewan say they’d vote to stay if Ottawa built a pipeline across the country

  • 62% in Alberta and 56% in Saskatchewan would stay if Bill C-69 were repealed

  • 61% of Alberta separatists and 54% of Saskatchewan ones say ending the emissions cap would convince them to vote "stay"

Ottawa could put out this fire tomorrow, but they won’t. Why? Because they don’t see Western Canada as a partner. They see us as a piggy bank. We supply the resources, we pay the bills, and they punish us for it.

And let’s talk about how this could quickly backfire. Angus Reid found that if British Columbia blocked access to tidewater, or Quebec vetoed future pipelines, support for separation would increase across the board — and by as much as 20% among soft “leave” voters.

Even Indigenous protests wouldn’t hold back the separatist tide. Among the “definitely leave” group, a full majority said that major Indigenous resistance would actually make them more likely to support separation.

Here’s one more number you won’t hear on CBC: 71% of Alberta separatists and 74% of Saskatchewan separatists would vote to stay if the federal Conservatives formed government.

Translation? This isn’t so much a separatist revolution as it is a desperate cry for fairness.

But if Ottawa keeps treating Alberta and Saskatchewan like provinces to be punished, taxed, and controlled — then maybe we’ve got no choice but to take our future into our own hands.

Because how long can you stay in a relationship where you’re always paying, always blamed, and never heard?

So, here’s the question no one in the Laurentian bubble is asking: Why are Westerners being asked to save a country that won’t take its foot off our heads while we drown?

If Ottawa won’t change, maybe it’s time we did.

Read the full poll here.

Please help Rebel News stand up for the West!

Ottawa’s been screwing the West for decades — Trudeau's carbon taxes, Carney’s smug elitism, and laws like Bill C-69 that sabotage our prosperity. The message from the East? Shut up, pay up, and stay in your place. We’re done with that. And we think you are too. That's why Rebel News is launching a campaign to give Albertans and the West a voice — and we need your help to kick it off. Please help us fund a province-wide poll on Alberta independence, emergency townhalls, and fearless journalism that tells the truth about how badly Ottawa treats the West. If you're fed up with being trampled by the Laurentian elite, chip in now. We’re not taking it anymore!

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Sheila Gunn Reid

Chief Reporter

Sheila Gunn Reid is the Alberta Bureau Chief for Rebel News and host of the weekly The Gunn Show with Sheila Gunn Reid. She's a mother of three, conservative activist, and the author of best-selling books including Stop Notley.

COMMENTS

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  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2025-05-12 19:10:17 -0400
    Count me in on separation. Imagine all that money we send out of the province being ours to use on our own needs. Eastern fools keep voting these socialist grifters in so we need to leave this abusive relationship.
  • Anthony Salotti
    commented 2025-05-12 07:19:33 -0400
    It’s time Alberta left Canada . Enough is enough .
  • Robert Pariseau
    commented 2025-05-11 10:13:06 -0400
    Peter Mackay.
  • Bernhard Jatzeck
    commented 2025-05-10 19:24:49 -0400
    One problem is the idea that a Conservative federal government would dampen down the separatist sentiment in Alberta.

    Ever since the ascension of PET in 1968, there have been 4 Conservative PMs, none of whom did much for western Canada. Clarke wasn’t permitted to govern by PET and his Dipper buddies. Mulroney’s true inclinations were made evident with the awarding of the F-18 maintenance contract. The less said about Kim!, the better.

    Finally, Harper didn’t do much for western Canada.

    So, what’s the alternative?