‘This is overwhelming’: Alberta separatists praise turnout for petition signing

If crowd size is to be believed, the idea of Alberta separating from Canada is gaining momentum as a large crowd of supporters attended a meeting on the proposal in Red Deer Wednesday evening. The organizers, a group called Stay Free Alberta , are attempting collect enough signatures on a petition calling on the provincial government to hold a referendum on separation. To be successful, they need to collect about 177,000 signatures by May 2, of which 10 per cent must be eligible voters from the last provincial election. The signatures must then be validated by the province’s Chief Electoral Officer , before the petition can be presented to the Alberta government. The media was not allowed into Wednesday’s meeting, not allowed to shoot video of anyone signing the petition and none of the organizers on site would agree to be interviewed by the media. However, others who spoke off the record claimed some people waited in line for up to three hours to sign the petition. Anger with the federal government appeared to be the motivation for most of those who did agree to speak with Global News. “It’s been an abusive relationship for so long. I just think most of us just want out,” said James Dunsmuir. “We’re just tired of being taken advantage of by the east. A lot of our money goes east and not a lot comes back and we’re not treated very well out east and I think we’d just be better off ruling ourselves.” “The federal government has taken advantage of Alberta and all its resources and I really hope that everybody can see that we are hard-working Canadians and we deserve to have and reap what we sow,” said Amber Klaffke. “This is overwhelming, for sure. It’s great, it’s wonderful, but I’ll tell you what, it’s a small segment of what you’re going to see in the next few weeks, I guarantee,” added Don Bouvette. In an interview on Thursday afternoon, the head of Stay Free Alberta, Mitch Sylvestre, wouldn’t reveal how many signatures the group has gathered on its petition so far, but said he’s confident they’ll get enough by the May 6 deadline. Get weekly money news Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy . “ I know for sure we’re ahead because I’ve got a little rough tally in my head. I think we have a very good chance to succeed here based on turnout that we’ve been getting.” While a few people at the Red Deer event were also seen wearing red “Make America Great Again” hats, Sylvestre rejected the idea that the group is getting support from the U.S. government. “It’s very simple. We’ve been there, we’ve spoken to them, you know, very informally. We don’t want to become a 51st state. And that’s basically all there is to it,” said Sylvestre. According to two recent polls, a large majority of Albertans don’t want to separate from Canada, however one shows support for the idea has grown. We’ve...

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