EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Voters in Canada’s oil-rich Alberta province overwhelmingly backed remaining in the country, referendum results showed Tuesday, delivering a boost to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s push for national unity as U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and annexation threats rally Canadians around their country.
With more than 1.9 million votes counted and results reported from 90% of voting areas and locations, 75% of voters supported remaining in Canada, while 25% backed beginning a process toward separation, according to unofficial results from Elections Alberta.
The referendum was not a direct vote on independence. Approval would have set Alberta on a path toward a future vote on separation from Canada.
“It’s a great result for Canada that Albertans have chosen unity,” Carney told reporters Tuesday before a Cabinet meeting in Ottawa.
Carney said the roughly one-quarter of voters who backed beginning the separation process did not necessarily want independence, suggesting only a smaller “hard core” favored leaving Canada. Some voters said they wanted to send Ottawa a message rather than separate.