Some Albertans say they'd vote for separation referendum to send message to Ottawa: Angus Reid poll

Nearly half of Albertans planning to vote for a binding referendum on separating from Canada want to send a message to Ottawa rather than have their province leave the country, a new Angus Reid poll suggests.

Two in five Albertans who plan to vote this fall for starting the legal process of a binding referendum on separation from Canada don’t necessarily want the province to leave, according to a new poll by Angus Reid.

Remaining in Canada still garners the majority of support among 1,017 Albertan respondents surveyed by the pollster between Aug. 10 and 13.

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The most controversial question in the fall referendum over separation has split Albertans into two major camps with nearly two-thirds indicating they would vote to stay and the remaining one-third favouring a binding referendum.

Most of the poll respondents voting for a referendum want the province to leave. But if the question was part of a binding referendum, support decreases to 30 per cent and a desire to remain in Canada rises to 65 per cent from 61 per cent.

“It’s not necessarily a desire to leave the country,” said Jonathan Roe, a researcher with Angus Reid. “They want to say, ‘We’re upset with the federal government policies.'”

The group that wants a binding referendum overwhelmingly finds the fall vote “very important,” while only 60 per cent of those who want Alberta to stay in Canada would say the same. A quarter of federalist respondents find the fall plebiscite “important.”

“So there does appear to be a little bit of a gap in motivation. It’s not not a significant gap, I would say, but like enough that it is a little bit,” Roe said.

Eighty-one per cent of federalists and 88 per cent of separatists responded that they’re certain to vote in the referendum. A key finding by the poll is that support for the binding referendum is the highest among men older than 34, and the lowest among men and women below that age.

“What we’re seeing from from elections and the historical data from elections in Canada shows is that older people are more likely to turn out to vote than younger people,” said Roe, a former Calgary Herald reporter.

While the certainty among federalists is only seven percentage points lower than the opposing group, the data raises questions about whether the support for staying in Canada is solely rhetorical and if they would actually show up to the voting booth.

“I would say overall that we don’t see this high level of certainty for those sorts of campaigns,” he added.