What, exactly, are Alberta separatists mad about?

Threats of Alberta separation spell backmost decades, and have reached caller heights since the April predetermination of Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney. 

The separatist Alberta Prosperity Project is gunning for 600,000 signatures connected a petition that would unit a provincial referendum connected the issue, portion the Republican Party of Alberta — led by longtime blimpish operative Cameron Davies — is ramping up its separation push.

"What we're looking astatine is the breached and dysfunctional strategy that has been successful spot since Alberta joined Confederation," Davies, who precocious resigned from membership successful the governing United Conservative Party, told CBC News.

He says the strategy was designed to consolidate power in the East, and the West was "viewed arsenic thing much than a assets colony" for Ottawa.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has besides focused overmuch of her caller nationalist messaging on sovereignty and absorption to Ottawa, making nods to the separatist question but not outright supporting separation.

So, wherefore bash immoderate Albertans consciousness they're being treated truthful unfairly?

Here's breakdown of a fewer cardinal issues. 

Equalization payments

Equalization payments are a longstanding grievance for immoderate Albertans.

The national programme sees a information of national taxation dollars distributed to poorer, oregon "have-not," provinces so each tin support reasonably akin levels of nationalist services.

While Alberta was erstwhile a have-not, it's been a "have" state since the mid-1960s, meaning that it contributes to those payments, but receives none.  

Some reason this is unfair, and the money should enactment successful Alberta. 

Davies says the national authorities lone cares that the taxes support coming from Alberta "so that they tin redistribute it to Quebec and the Maritimes." 

When Alberta's then-premier Jason Kenney held a referendum connected equalization successful 2021, astir 62 per cent of voters said they would take to region the main of equalization payments from the constitution. 

The existent equalization look was created by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, successful which Kenney served arsenic a furniture minister. 

Andrew Leach, an biology and vigor economist astatine the University of Alberta successful Edmonton, says due to the fact that of Alberta's "enviable" fiscal position, there is "no strategy of equalization that would mathematically lead" to the state receiving payments. 

Quebec received the largest equalization payment in the 2025-26 fiscal twelvemonth ($13.6 billion), followed by Manitoba ($4.7 billion).

Duane Bratt, a governmental idiosyncratic astatine Mount Royal Unversity successful Calgary, says immoderate of the anger astir equalization comes from a misunderstanding among galore Albertans of however the strategy works. 

"They deliberation that the treasurer of Alberta writes a cheque to Quebec for $12 cardinal each year," helium said. 

Bratt feels the contented has been deliberately misrepresented to stoke anger, and says it's not wide whether Alberta would beryllium amended disconnected without equalization payments. 

"If Alberta seceded... they would prevention each that taxation revenue, but past they would person to wage for each the things that the national authorities presently pays for, and that would go precise analyzable astir whether they would payment oregon not," helium said. 

Underrepresentation successful Ottawa

Davies and others reason Alberta is underrepresented successful the House of Commons and the Senate.

Alberta gained 3 seats successful the 2022 national electoral redistribution and now has 37 of the 343 seats successful the House, oregon astir 10.8 per cent, portion accounting for astir 11 per cent of the country's population.

If fairness is being judged by percentages, that's somewhat higher than Ontario's per-capita representation.

The numbers are somewhat much skewed toward the smaller Atlantic provinces. For example, New Brunswick has 10 seats — conscionable nether 3 per cent — and under two per cent of the country's population. 

WATCH | Pierre Poilievre addresses Albertans' frustrations:

In the Senate, however, Alberta is intelligibly underrepresented — with six of the 105 senators, oregon little than six per cent. B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba besides person six senators each, portion Nova Scotia and New Brunswick each person 10.

"Maybe it would be bully to person an adjacent Senate, but close present the Senate doesn't person a full batch of power," Bratt said. 

Dennis Pilon, a governmental subject prof astatine York University successful Toronto, says the formulas that led to these numbers are part of a agelong process of law and tribunal revision.

He says 1 could reason that determination should beryllium a law normal wherever specified issues could beryllium addressed.

However, helium says if changes were to beryllium made, different issues should besides beryllium considered, specified arsenic the overrepresentation of agrarian ridings.

"There are a batch of different problems that really talk to a overmuch higher level of unfairness, which I don't perceive the Alberta separatists talking about," Pilon said. 

Federal regulations

Davies has a database of complaints astir national regulations, from the long-gun registry to the precocious turfed c taxation — policies helium says acceptable good with Toronto and Montreal audiences but are "tone deaf" to Albertans. 

"Albertans mostly conscionable privation to beryllium near alone," helium said. 

Such complaints usually boil down to the lipid and state industry, and perceived harm done by Liberal biology policies.

Alberta leaders crossed parties often put oil and state astatine the centre of their campaigns, arsenic the manufacture contributes billions to provincial coffers each year.

But Leach, astatine the U of A, says it's not truthful wide that Ottawa has been detrimental to the industry's ambitions. 

Yes, the national authorities has assorted biology rules, helium says. But it also, for example, has the jurisdiction to unit pipeline operation to the seashore done B.C.

"The Alberta lipid and state industry, near to its ain devices, would astir apt find pipelines highly costly to physique without national authorities legislation. Because it means that immoderate landowner tin clasp that pipeline up for arsenic overmuch wealth arsenic they privation to effort to extract." 

In caller years, fights implicit pipelines led to the national authorities rejecting the Northern Gateway pipeline successful 2016, Trans Canada pulling out of Energy East successful 2017 and Keystone XL to the U.S. being killed successful 2021.

But the Trudeau Liberals besides pushed done the Trans Mountain pipeline, contempt regulatory and ineligible hurdles, buying it successful 2018.

Meanwhile, the manufacture has continued to grow, raking in record profits and hitting grounds highs of lipid accumulation successful the past 3 years.

Leach finds it funny that Liberal governments successful peculiar person been painted by immoderate arsenic being strictly atrocious for lipid and gas, and says astir liquid earthy state projects, and galore lipid sands projects, that had permits successful manus during the Harper epoch ne'er moved ahead. 

"There's benignant of this mythology that the conservatives person created astir themselves, or that they expect of themselves, that they were warring tooth-and-nail to get each of these projects built," helium said.