Alberta’s Secession Referendum Packed With Trump-Friendly Measures Even as Independence Appears Unlikely

TORONTO — Separatists in Canada’s western province of Alberta appear headed for a resounding defeat in a referendum Monday but polling shows solid support for several other ballot items that could well have been drawn from a Trump administration wish list.These include proposals to require proof of citizenship before voting, restrictions on immigration, and the authority to restrict or charge fees for a range of health benefits and social services for non-permanent residents, such as foreign students, guest workers and asylum seekers. Other questions seek a mandate to begin negotiating for changes to the country’s 1982 constitution.Most public attention has focused on the question of whether the oil-rich province, sometimes referred to as the Texas of Canada, should begin the process of working toward independence — an issue that has drawn Prime Minister Mark Carney back this week to the province where he was raised.Voters must decide whether to “build a stronger Alberta and an even greater Canada” for the future, he told a packed rally at Calgary on Thursday evening, warning that a yes vote on the referendum would burden future generations “with years of deep division and great uncertainty.” Anxious that pro-Canada voters get out and vote, he told the crowd that “what we need is a decisive result on Monday to settle this question.”Complacency would seem to be the Canada camp’s only realistic worry, with recent polling showing support for independence mired around 22 percent while about 70 percent of respondents say they favor remaining in Canada. But the prospects look much brighter for a handful of questions on voting and immigration, where polls show approval ranging between 58 and 65 percent. None of the questions is binding, but they have been framed as giving Alberta’s conservative-led government a mandate to begin drafting legislation or negotiating with Ottawa.High on the list — and likely to warm the hearts of Trump supporters in America — is a question asking whether voters support the introduction of a law requiring individuals to provide proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate or citizenship card, in order to vote in an Alberta provincial election. Premier Danielle Smith’s government has already begun moving in that direction by adding a citizenship marker to Alberta-issued drivers’ licenses and ID cards.Support for the measure was polling in August at a resounding 66 percent, the highest of any of the 10 ballot questions, despite objections from opponents who note that only four cases of non-citizen voting have been identified in Alberta since 2015 and who argue it will make voting more difficult.Almost as popular at 65 percent, according to a Research Co. poll, is a question asking whether voters support Alberta “taking increased control over immigration for the purposes of decreasing immigration to more sustainable levels, prioritizing economic migration and giving Albertans first priority on new employment opportunities?”While the federal government retains ultimate authority over immigration under Canada’s constitution, Ms. Smith has said she wants an arrangement similar to that in Quebec, a primarily French-speaking province to which Ottawa has voluntarily ceded the right to select its economic immigrants. Canadian residents are free to move between provinces but new arrivals must declare an intended province of residency on entering the country.Also enjoying solid support are provisions that would limit access to most social services to Canadian citizens, permanent residents and persons approved for immigration by the province; create a 12-month waiting period to become eligible for those services; and charge a “reasonable fee or premium” to non-permanent residents for access to the health care and education systems. Most health care in the province is now financed entirely by taxpayers.Ms. Smith, who has campaigned personally against separation from Canada, has been a leading voice in support of the other measures, arguing that excessive immigration has saddled the province with a multi-billion dollar deficit, longer emergency room wait times, and overcrowded classrooms.“I recognize that we have been generous for a long time, but it’s put too much strain on our system,” she told reporters late last month. “If there is somebody who has made a commitment to be an Albertan and a Canadian for a lifetime as a permanent resident, they’re going to be a lifetime taxpayer. [There is] a difference between a person who comes to Canada to seek permanent residency and those who are here on a temporary basis.”Less popular, with polling support around 45 percent, are three questions that would call for Alberta to begin negotiating with other provinces and Ottawa on constitutional changes giving the province more authority over the selection of judges; allowing Alberta to opt out of federal-provincial cost sharing programs without any loss of federal funding; and giving provincial laws priority over federal laws when conflicts arise.Least popular at 39 percent is a proposal to begin negotiations toward the abolition of Canada’s unelected Senate. Appointment to the upper house of Parliament, established at Canada’s founding in 1867 as a counterpart to the British House of Lords, has long been seen as a reward for loyal service to the party in power and has historically short-changed the western provinces, which are lightly represented there.

Alberta’s Secession Referendum Packed With Trump-Friendly Measures Even as Independence Appears Unlikely

Alberta’s Secession Referendum Packed With Trump-Friendly Measures Even as Independence Appears Unlikely

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