As Alberta flirts with the possibility of a referendum on separation, Quebec sovereigntists are watching with interest — and a healthy dose of skepticism.
Some are hoping a wave of separatist sentiment in Alberta will put wind in the sails of Quebec’s own independence movement, which took a blow in the recent federal election when the Liberals made big gains in the province at the expense of the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois.
But others see Alberta’s brand of separatism, grown out of frustration with federal Liberal policies, as so fundamentally different from Quebec sovereignty that it’s hard not to be dismissive.
“In Quebec, we have a nation, a language, a culture, a distinct history,” said Marie-Anne Alepin, president of the Société St-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal, a prominent Quebec nationalist group.
“They want an oil-based future. We have no common goals. We’re not alike.”
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