Pipeline Deal Fails to Shift Alberta Separatist Advocates

Alberta separatist advocates say a major pipeline announcement with federal backing has not changed their support for leaving Canada, as Premier Danielle Smith argues the project shows the benefits of cooperation ahead of an Oct. 19 referendum on the province’s future in Confederation. The Pacific Link pipeline, proposed to carry Alberta oil to British Columbia’s coast, was declared a major project in the public interest at an announcement in Fort McMurray on Thursday. The designation is intended to streamline timelines and consultations. The project could see construction begin in about a year, according to the announcement, but it has not yet reached that stage. Cory Morgan, an organizer with the separatist group Pathway to Independence, said the announcement did not alter his position because the separation debate goes beyond the pipeline. Keith Wilson, co-leader of Let Alberta Decide, took the opposite lesson from the announcement’s federal role, arguing that Alberta still depends on Ottawa’s approval to advance major resource projects.