{"text":[[{"start":7.44,"text":"Alberta is set to remain part of Canada rather than back a separation process that would plunge the country into a crisis at a time when President Donald Trump has threatened to make it the 51st US state."}],[{"start":19.68,"text":"Voters in the province were asked on Monday if they would support a referendum on whether to leave Canada. Based on preliminary results from CBC, Canada’s national broadcaster, more than 76 per cent voted against holding a poll while 23 per cent voted in favour. With more than a third of results counted, the broadcaster projected that the remain vote would prevail."}],[{"start":42.32,"text":"Prime Minister Mark Carney spent the final days of the campaign urging voters across Alberta to stay in Canada as a united front against Trump’s hostilities."}],[{"start":51.8,"text":"He said in a statement early on Tuesday: “Above all, Albertans chose Canada.”"}],[{"start":57.08,"text":"“Albertans and all Canadians will move forward together with renewed purpose and high ambition,” he added."}],[{"start":63.6,"text":"Carney, who was raised in Alberta’s capital Edmonton, has rekindled relations between Ottawa and the country’s west with plans to build a new 1mn barrel-a-day oil pipeline and tear up federal environmental legislation that has been a source of anger in the energy-rich province."}],[{"start":79.4,"text":"Candace Laing, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said Alberta was central to Canada’s economic security and opportunities."}],[{"start":87.32,"text":"“Alberta has clearly chosen to remain in Canada and commit to our shared future. Businesses, workers and communities can feel more confident with this result,” she said."}],[{"start":97.24,"text":"Carney, who was Bank of England governor during Britain’s Brexit referendum in 2016, warned Albertans in May that many proponents who wanted to leave the EU now regretted the decision."}],[{"start":108.44,"text":"Monday’s vote came two days after a huge fire on a Canadian military base in Wainwright, in central Alberta, killed four people and injured scores of others, prompting a response from provincial and federal emergency services."}],[{"start":121.8,"text":"On Sunday, Elections Alberta recorded a high turnout with more than 1.35mn votes cast — 43 per cent of eligible voters — through advance and special ballots, highlighting the huge response across a province with a population of 5.1mn."}],[{"start":138.16,"text":"Since the 1970s and 1980s, separatist sentiments have ebbed and flowed in the western province that is the largest foreign supplier of oil to the US and which accounts for roughly a fifth of Canada’s agricultural exports."}],[{"start":152.04,"text":"Many Albertans have long chafed at the federal government in Ottawa and at the political power of the more populous eastern provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Canada’s constitution gives Alberta ownership of its vast oil and gas reserves, but Ottawa has authority over climate policy and much sway on how the landlocked province can export its crude."}],[{"start":172.36,"text":"The separatist movement has been linked to the “Freedom convoy” of truck drivers and others who descended on Ottawa to protest against the federal government’s handling of the Covid pandemic."}],[{"start":182.32,"text":"Syracuse University professor Ryan Griffiths, author of a book about American secessionist movements, said Alberta’s political discontent was more similar to California and Texas than Kurdish or Catalan sovereignty claims."}],[{"start":195.48,"text":"“But because you don’t have such a defined history or different language, it doesn’t always mean you don’t deserve something or that it couldn’t develop,” he said."}],[{"start":203.52,"text":"Alberta’s premier Danielle Smith held the vote to placate a large portion of her United Conservative Party who wanted to leave Canada even though she said she wanted to remain."}],[{"start":213.04,"text":"She said in a social media post late on Monday: “I’m very pleased to see the initial results from Elections Alberta show widespread support for remaining in Canada. Albertans have voted for a stronger Alberta in a united Canada.”"}],[{"start":226.24,"text":"Smith may be the night’s biggest loser as she faces a large section of UCP members who see the separatist issue as far from over and want a party leader to drive that agenda."}],[{"start":236.6,"text":"Monday’s ballot asked 10 questions concerning the strengthening of Alberta’s provincial powers, in particular around tightening immigration, constitutional reform and whether to launch the legal process towards a binding referendum on separation from Canada."}],[{"start":254.2,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1792487667_6960.mp3"}