How the UCP Is Normalizing Alberta Separatism Without Ever Asking Albertans for Permission

When Albertans went to the polls in 2023, they were voting on issues like affordability, health care, education, public safety and the economy. They were not voting to transform the United Conservative Party into a political vehicle that increasingly accommodates Alberta separatism.

Yet today, that is exactly what many Albertans are watching unfold.

What began as a fringe movement championed by a handful of activists has steadily moved closer to the center of the UCP’s political orbit. It has happened gradually—not through a dramatic declaration—but through repeated appearances at separatist events, carefully crafted rhetoric, silence from many government MLAs, and an unwillingness to draw a clear line between governing Alberta and dismantling Canada.

Whether intentional or not, the effect is unmistakable: separatism is being normalized.

For years, Alberta separatism occupied the political margins. It was a movement associated with a small but vocal group of activists frustrated with Ottawa.

Today, separatist organizations find themselves sharing stages, doing podcasts meeting with, or receiving public attention from elected members of Alberta’s governing party.

Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen has drawn criticism for appearing at events attended by Alberta independence supporters. Other UCP MLAs, including Jason Stephan, have also been publicly associated with calls for an Alberta independence referendum or have made statements interpreted as supportive of such a vote.

Separatist organizations have publicly identified several UCP MLAs as supportive of an Alberta independence referendum based on their public statements, interviews and social media activity. Those named have included Eric Bouchard, Scott Cyr, and others, although not all have explicitly endorsed Alberta becoming an independent country.

The distinction matters.

Supporting a referendum is not necessarily the same as supporting separation itself.

But politically, repeatedly legitimizing the movement without forcefully rejecting its objective moves the public conversation in one direction: toward making separatism appear like an ordinary policy option rather than an extraordinary constitutional rupture.

The Silence Speaks Volumes

Perhaps even more revealing than those who speak are those who refuse to.

Following the government’s decision to move toward a referendum process, dozens of UCP MLAs declined to publicly state whether they support Alberta remaining in Canada. Alberta’s NDP highlighted that only a minority of government MLAs had clearly declared how they would vote, while many continued relying on the ambiguous phrase “a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.”

That slogan has become the political equivalent of a Rorschach test.

Federalists hear reassurance.

Separatists hear encouragement.

Everyone else is left wondering which interpretation is the real one, but Dani for one has never swayed from that slogan.

A Political Mandate That Never Existed

The most remarkable aspect of this transformation is that Albertans never approved it.

The UCP campaigned in 2023 on issues such as inflation, affordability, health care, taxation and economic growth.

There was no election campaign asking voters for permission to normalize Alberta separatism.

There was no referendum authorizing cabinet ministers to mingle with separatist organizations.

There was no campaign promise that government MLAs would become increasingly reluctant to state plainly that Alberta belongs in Canada.

Governments derive legitimacy from the mandates voters give them.

Expanding health care? If it was promised, that is part of the mandate.

Reducing taxes? Likewise.

Quietly shifting the governing party into closer alignment with a movement advocating the breakup of Canada is something entirely different.

If that is now the direction some members of the governing party wish to pursue, they owe Albertans the honesty of saying so—and then seeking a democratic mandate for it.

Legitimizing Extremes Changes Politics

Political science has long documented how fringe ideas become mainstream.

The process rarely begins with official endorsement.

Instead, it begins with normalization.

Politicians attend events.

Language softens.

Media attention increases.

Organizations once viewed as outside respectable politics suddenly become accepted participants in public debate.

Eventually, voters stop asking whether the movement should exist and begin debating only how far it should go.

That is precisely why attendance at separatist events by elected officials matters.

Cabinet ministers do not simply attend events as private citizens.

They attend as representatives of the Government of Alberta.

Their presence confers legitimacy whether they intend it to or not.

Governing Everyone Means Representing Everyone

The UCP governs approximately five million Albertans—and statistically the majority of those do not support Alberta independence.

Many conservative voters remain proudly Canadian.

Many supported the UCP because they preferred its economic policies, not because they wanted to dismantle Confederation.

Those voters have every right to ask whether the government they elected is drifting toward priorities they never endorsed.

If ministers and MLAs genuinely oppose Alberta leaving Canada, they should say so clearly. A true leader on any level would stand by their beliefs.

If they support separation, they should say so equally clearly.
After all, we pay their salaries. And they’ve gotten used to the coin.

The greatest threat to democratic accountability is not disagreement.

It is ambiguity.

Albertans Deserve Straight Answers

The question facing the UCP is no longer simply whether individual MLAs support Alberta separatism.

The larger question is whether the governing party is allowing separatism to become normalized inside its own political coalition without ever obtaining the explicit consent of the electorate.

That is not a trivial shift.

It represents one of the most profound constitutional questions Alberta has faced in generations.

If Alberta’s future is to include serious discussion of leaving Canada, that debate should begin with honesty—not carefully crafted slogans, strategic ambiguity, or silent acquiescence.

Albertans voted for a provincial government.

They did not vote to quietly transform the United Conservative Party into a political home where separatism steadily migrates from the fringe toward the mainstream.