Even more interesting, if it went through the Western half of Canada would effectively be cut off from the bulk of the countries population and economic centers. For this reason, the Governor of Alberta at the time had planned to cede to the US had the referendum been a success. At that point there probably would have been something of a domino effect, with the other Western provinces doing the same.
> if it went through the Western half of Canada would effectively be cut off from the bulk of the countries population and economic centers.
What? Quebec is east of Ontario, so the entire west of Canada is still connected to Ontario by land. Only lightly populated, economically minuscule (but gorgeous) eastern provinces would be cut off.
> For this reason, the Governor of Alberta at the time had planned to cede to the US had the referendum been a success.
Premiere of Alberta. Albertans threaten this regularly when one or another of their extractive projects doesn’t get approved.
> Governor of Alberta at the time had planned to cede to the US
Ex-Albertan here: this is false, there has never been a plan to "cede to the US". It would be extremely politically distasteful in Alberta to cede to the USA, such a plan would be political suicide.
>Ex-Albertan here: this is false, there has never been a plan to "cede to the US".
In 1990 the premier of Nova Scotia said that Atlantic Canada would have "no choice" but to join the US (<http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-05-03/news/900205075...>) if Quebec were to leave. Saskatchewan in both 1980 and 1995 evaluated the possibility of also seceding, and/or seeking US statehood (<http://web.archive.org/web/20140829140952/http://www.thestar...>), on the event of a "Yes" vote in the Quebec referendum those years, in part because "Atlantic Canada would be 'an island'". It would only have been prudent for some or all of the other provincial governments to have made similar plans in secret.
>It would be extremely politically distasteful in Alberta to cede to the USA, such a plan would be political suicide.
Are you so sure about that, after the last few years of Alberta/Trudeau 2.0 conflicts fueling the longstanding sense of Western alienation? Remember, Re Secession lays out a legal path for secession.
Yeah I'm sure about that. I mean never say never, but I would place a heavy wager on Alberta not ceding to the USA in the next 100 years. You're right that there is a strong anti-Trudeau, anti-Federal sentiment in the province, but that in no way implies a greater desire to be a part of the USA than Canada.
Independence, and a union of the 3 prairie provinces into a separate nation? There's a slim possibility. A state in the US? No way.
Could you clarify? Wouldn't this only cut Newfoundland and Labrador off from the rest of Canada? Can't see how this would affect Western Canada's access to the population/economic centre which is basically just Ontario, and to a lesser degree BC and Alberta itself. (Excepting Quebec, which I guess all of Canada would be cut off from to the same degree in this scenario).
Well this is awkward, I'm having difficulty finding the source where I first learned of it. But I have found this nice booklet that collected a fair number of interesting first hand documents.
I'm certainly misremembering details, and can't afford to spend any more time on it now, but I distinctly recall some high level official (premier, governor, chairman, whatever) revealed in an interview many years after the fact they had seriously planed on cessation had the yes side won.
