Alberta will make an important choice on October 19. But the separation debate is already reaching dinner tables, friendships and workplaces. Whatever happens at the ballot box, Albertans will still have to live together on October 20.
By Leonard Buffalo | Métis Correspondent | North of Polite
Maybe it’s a husband and wife who disagree.
Two brothers who have stopped bringing it up.
Coworkers who used to argue about hockey and now carefully avoid politics in the lunchroom.
Or a family gathering where everyone already knows which subject isn’t coming up.
Alberta’s referendum is getting closer.
But for some Albertans, the consequences have already arrived.
They aren’t constitutional.
They’re personal.
IT’S ALREADY AT THE KITCHEN TABLE
A September Abacus Data survey of 1,000 Alberta adults found 63 per cent had discussed the referendum with family during the previous month.
More strikingly, 23 per cent said the issue had strained a relationship, while 38 per cent had deliberately avoided discussing it to keep the peace. The online survey was conducted September 4–7 and weighted to Alberta’s population by region, age and gender.
Think about that.
Nearly four in ten surveyed Albertans decided silence was easier than the conversation.
And advance voting hasn’t even started.
TWO BOXES. MANY REASONS.
There is something else worth understanding before Albertans start assuming they know what their neighbours believe.
The October 19 ballot does not directly decide whether Alberta separates from Canada.
Option 1 says Alberta should remain a province of Canada.
Option 2 says the Alberta government should begin the constitutional process required to hold a later binding referendum on separation. The October 19 question itself is non-binding.
And even the people choosing Option 2 don’t necessarily want the same thing.
In the Abacus survey, only about one-quarter of Option 2 supporters said their reason was wanting Alberta to become an independent country. Others wanted a direct say, a different arrangement within Canada, or to send Ottawa a message.
Imagine two neighbours arguing about the referendum.
One chooses Option 1 because he wants Alberta to remain in Canada.
The other chooses Option 2 because she wants Alberta to remain in Canada too—but believes opening the process might force a different relationship with Ottawa.
They can spend three weeks furious with each other while ultimately wanting the same country.
That might be the most Canadian argument imaginable.
PRESSURE CHANGES THE CONVERSATION
As October 19 approaches, the volume will rise.
Campaigners will campaign. Politicians will argue. Social media will reward the hottest version of almost everything.
There will be signs, posts, accusations, predictions and increasingly confident people explaining what everyone on the other side really wants.
Some Albertans will become more determined.
Some will become worried.
Others will simply become exhausted.
That’s politics.
But democracy doesn’t require turning the person across the fence into an enemy.
An Option 1 voter doesn’t tell you everything about that person’s view of Ottawa.
An Option 2 voter doesn’t tell you everything about that person’s view of Canada.
The polling itself shows motivations are considerably more complicated than two boxes can capture.
People are complicated.
Ballot boxes aren’t.
THEN COMES OCTOBER 20
This may be the part worth thinking about before voting day.
Someone is going to be disappointed.
The result will settle the question on the ballot.
It won’t settle every argument that brought Alberta there.
Your neighbour will still be your neighbour.
The person across the lunchroom will still be your coworker.
The mechanic who voted differently will still fix your truck.
The nurse who chose the other box will still care for your mother.
And your son, daughter, brother, sister or spouse doesn’t become less family because of where they put an X.
Whatever Alberta decides on October 19, Alberta still has to work on October 20.
WHAT ARE WE WILLING TO LOSE TO WIN?
A referendum necessarily divides choices.
It doesn’t have to divide people.
There is nothing wrong with arguing passionately for the future you believe Alberta should have.
But there is a difference between defeating someone’s argument and deciding that person is your enemy.
And when nearly a quarter of surveyed Albertans already report relationship strain over this referendum, that distinction matters.
October 19 will produce numbers.
October 20 produces something harder.
Who sits together again?
Who talks?
Who realizes the person across the table wasn’t an enemy after all?
Who apologizes for something said when winning an argument seemed terribly important?
And who discovers that a political campaign lasting a few months damaged a relationship that had lasted decades?
Alberta will count its ballots in October.
It may take considerably longer to count the cost of what Albertans said to one another getting there.
So argue.
Ask hard questions.
Challenge claims.
And when the time comes, make your own choice.
But perhaps leave a little room at the table for October 20.
Because whichever box receives more votes, Alberta still belongs to everyone who wakes up there the next morning.
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