For generations, Westerners have been unhappy about the way their region has been treated
within Confederation. However, it wasn’t until about 1970 that the idea of independence from
Canada began to gain any traction. By the early 1970s, serious discussion about Western
independence was happening for the first time.

This was because of Canada’s new prime minister, Pierre Trudeau. A major reason for Pierre
Trudeau becoming involved in politics was to defeat the Quebec nationalist movement by
making Quebecers feel more at home within Canada. Thus, one of his first major policy
initiatives was the Official Languages Act, which made French much more prominent in English
Canada. In the West, where few people used French, this caused a lot of resentment.

The Energy Wars

More importantly, after a rapid rise in oil prices that resulted from the outbreak of war in the
Middle East in October 1973, Alberta’s ownership and control of its natural resources was
challenged by Trudeau. He imposed oil pricing in Canada that was much lower than the world
price, which meant Alberta would not receive fair market value for its oil sold within the
country. Perhaps even worse, Trudeau also imposed an export tax on oil so that the federal
government would obtain a large share of the revenue generated from Alberta’s oil exports.

Trudeau’s discriminatory policies badly hurt Alberta while transferring billions of dollars to
central Canada. In fact, in 1974, Alberta premier Peter Lougheed referred to the export tax on oil as “probably the biggest ripoff of any province that’s ever occurred in Confederation’s history.”

That same year, 1974, also saw the creation of the first significant organization advocating for Alberta independence: the Independent Alberta Association. This group was particularly concerned about the Trudeau government’s attack on Alberta’s ownership and control of its natural resources.

Throughout the 1970s, conflict between Peter Lougheed’s Alberta government and Pierre
Trudeau’s federal government over oil revenue continued. Alberta was providing huge subsidies to central Canada as a result of Trudeau’s redistributive policies.

A federal election in 1979 led to a minority government for the Progressive Conservatives led by Joe Clark. It was hoped that Alberta would get a better deal from Prime Minister Clark because he was an Albertan and every Alberta MP was from his party. That hope was dashed when Clark’s government fell in a non-confidence vote in the House of Commons, and the resulting general election led once again to a Liberal majority government under Pierre Trudeau in February 1980.

Many Albertans believed the 1980 federal election demonstrated that Western Canada had virtually no influence on the national government because elections were decided in Ontario and Quebec.

Immediately after the election, a new organization called West-Fed was created, led by
Edmonton businessman Elmer Knutson. Also, Doug Christie, a British Columbia lawyer, formed
the Western Canada Concept (WCC) to promote Western independence.

The National Energy Program

In October 1980, the Trudeau government introduced the National Energy Program (NEP) which was widely viewed as an attempt by the federal government to seize control over Alberta’s oil resources. As Alberta Report founder Ted Byfield wrote, “More and more it began to look as though Canada was a mere con game, being played out by Ontario and Quebec at the expense of the West.” Many Albertans were greatly angered by the NEP and support for Alberta independence soared to unprecedented levels.

Both West-Fed and the WCC held large meetings across Alberta. One WCC meeting at the
Edmonton Jubilee Auditorium in November 1980 had an audience estimated to be at least 2500 people, the largest independence meeting ever held in Western Canada up to that time.

The WCC subsequently organized a provincial political party in Alberta. In February 1982,
WCC candidate Gordon Kesler won a convincing by-election victory in a rural constituency
north of Calgary. This was the first time a separatist candidate had ever been elected in Western Canada. Support for the Alberta WCC increased sharply.

However, the WCC became discredited by infighting and leadership squabbles. When Premier
Peter Lougheed called an early general election for November 1982, the WCC did not win any
seats despite receiving almost 12% of the total provincial vote.

In 1984 Pierre Trudeau resigned as prime minister. In a federal election later that year, the
Progressive Conservatives under Brian Mulroney won a majority government. Alberta had voted overwhelmingly for Mulroney’s PCs, and it was believed the province would receive a better deal from the new federal government. As a result, support for independence decreased significantly.

The CF-18 Affair

However, the Mulroney government proved to be a big disappointment for Westerners. Much of his caucus consisted of MPs from central Canada, including the prime minister himself.

In 1986, a Winnipeg company won a bid for a government contract to maintain Canada’s new
CF-18 fighter jets. Despite that, Mulroney awarded the maintenance contract to a Montreal
company that had lost the bid. Clearly, to the Mulroney government, pandering to voters in
Quebec was much more important than being fair to the West.

Because of anger with the Mulroney government, the Alberta WCC came back to life. In a
November 1987 by-election in central Alberta, Alberta WCC party leader Jack Ramsay finished
second. The WCC, which had been struggling since its 1982 general election defeat, re-emerged as the PCs’ main rival in some parts of Alberta.

Reform Party of Canada

However, within a short time, the independence movement was largely diverted into a new
organization.

After the CF-18 affair, several prominent Westerners led by Preston Manning began to create a
new Western-based federal party to represent the West’s interests in Parliament called the
Reform Party of Canada. The slogan of this party was “the West wants in,” meaning that the
West wanted to be an equal partner within Canada.

The Reform Party did not have the problems of infighting and leadership squabbling that so
often afflicted the WCC and other such groups. It was seen as a credible organization with a
credible leader that could defend Alberta’s interests in Ottawa. Many of those who had formerly supported independence joined the Reform Party, including former WCC leader Jack Ramsay who became a Reform Party MP.

The Reform Party became the political vehicle for people wanting the West to get a fair deal
within Canada. In the 1993 federal election, Reform won 52 seats, including 22 of Alberta’s 26
seats. Four years later it won 60 seats, including 24 of Alberta’s 26 seats. Clearly, Albertans very
strongly supported Reform’s goal of getting the Western voice heard in Ottawa.

However, in an effort to unite right-of-centre voters across Canada, the Reform Party was
reconfigured into a new party called the Canadian Alliance in 2000 led by Stockwell Day. That
effort was ineffective, as voters in Eastern Canada rejected the Canadian Alliance and voted for
the Liberals in the November 2000 federal election. Resentment at the election results
reawakened some independence sentiment in Alberta.

Stephen Harper became leader of the Canadian Alliance in 2002 and then led it into a merger
with the federal Progressive Conservative Party in 2003, forming the new Conservative Party of
Canada. Harper had been a key Reform Party figure, so when he was elected Prime Minister in
January 2006, most Albertans believed he could be trusted to protect the province’s interests.

As long as Harper remained prime minister, there was little support for Alberta independence.

Justin Trudeau

Of course, the situation changed dramatically on October 19, 2015, when Liberal leader Justin
Trudeau was elected prime minister with a majority government. Many Albertans justifiably
became fearful for the future.

Justin Trudeau was very antagonistic to Alberta’s oil and gas industry. He enacted policies to
severely restrict that industry, including the Impact Assessment Act, to prevent the construction
of pipelines, the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, to prevent the export of Alberta’s oil through ports
on the coast of British Columbia, and, of course, a consumer carbon tax.

The revival of independence sentiment after his election was immediate, and a number of
Facebook groups supporting Alberta independence began to form rapidly. Efforts to create a new Alberta independence party were also initiated.

By 2022, new organizations such as the Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta, The
Independence Party of Alberta, and the Alberta Prosperity Project were actively engaging with
Albertans over the need for independence.

The Future

Justin Trudeau was replaced as Liberal leader and prime minister by Mark Carney in March 2025. The subsequent federal election of April 2025 kept the Liberals in power. It also generated new support for Alberta independence because many Albertans were very disappointed that the Liberals’ harmful policies would continue.

For a large number of Albertans, the reelection of the Liberals was the last straw. Support for independence increased.

As of this writing, a petition campaign by Mitch Sylvestre and Stay Free Alberta is underway to
gather enough signatures to initiate an independence referendum in Alberta. Later this year,
Albertans may finally get to vote on whether or not they want to form a new country.

– Michael Wagner