Alberta is sometimes referred to as the Texas of Canada, proud and fiercely independent.
After Monday's election, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith rolled out changes to the election laws that will make it easier for Albertans to leave the Canadian confederation, although she said her government would not lead the charge.
Alberta Pastor Artur Pawlowski says for years Albertans have felt like second-class citizens.
“We have always been treated like a slave province by the northern provinces and Ontario and Quebec. Ontario alone, with the support of Quebec, outvotes us every single time,” Pawlowski says.
So a couple of the political parties in the province made an agreement before Carney's (right) victory on Monday.
“If the Liberal Party wins, it looks like we have no choice but to have a referendum and separate. So, I think that's where we're heading,” Pawlowski says.
The pastor says with the right leadership Alberta could emerge as one of the world's richest countries.
“We have more oil than Saudi Arabia. We have precious metals. We've got natural gas resources, unlimited resources. We actually, literally sleep on oil.”
But he says the liberal government in Ottawa is opposed to fossil fuels. “Because we have resources that truly, if we had the right leadership in the province of Alberta, we could become, financially speaking of course, a Saudi Arabia,” he explains.
A distinct possibility?
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has stated she would not stand in the way of a citizen-led referendum on independence. An Alberta-based conservative activist is convinced many of his fellow citizens are poised to do exactly that.
"Previously, we were required to have about 600,000 people sign to get a referendum," Brian Rushfeldt tells AFN. "I think if we were to hold the referendum now under the new conditions that our premier has suggested, we'll only be required to get 175,000."
Rushfeldt contends that number is quite reachable. "I think it would be easy to get 175,000 Albertans to say '[We're] not for this. We're not dealing with the Ottawa government any longer. We will declare that we are a separate entity.'
"There's a lot of positives about our premier," he adds. "[She's] a strong woman who I think will stand up to Carney and, if necessary, then say 'We'll have a referendum and we will be gone.'"
