Tracking who's who in the Alberta separation referendum debate
A list of pro-Canada and Alberta independence supporters in the October 19, 2026 referendum
Albertans are being asked to vote on ten referendum questions on October 19, 2026 and, unsurprisingly, the one question attracting the most attention is about Alberta’s separation from Canada.
I am a proud Canadian and proud Albertan and will be voting for Alberta to remain in Canada in this referendum.
One of my key goals since launching Daveberta more than two decades ago has been to help Albertans better understand the politics of their province. So, in the months ahead, I will be writing a lot about the referendum questions and maintaining a running list of groups, politicians, and individuals who are campaigning or taken positions in the Alberta separation referendum debate.
Similar to my nomination candidate tracking list, I will be updating this page as I receive new names, so please click on the title link and bookmark it to keep up to date.
If there are any names or website links that should be added or removed from this list, please send me an email at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. I am striving to do my best to keep this list as accurate as possible during a very noisy political debate.
The Alberta separation referendum question
Question 10: Should Alberta remain a province in Canada, or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?
Option 1: Alberta should remain a province in Canada.
Option 2: The Government of Alberta should commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada.
Supporting Option 1: Alberta should remain a province in Canada.
Groups
Alberta in Canada (Albereta Liberal Party campaign)
Alberta’s Voice (Stephen Carter)
For Alberta, For Canada (Alberta NDP campaign)
Forever Canadian (Thomas Lukaszuk)
Forward Canada (Zain Velji)
Lead Not Leave (Ken Boessenkool, Jim Dinning, Peggy Garritty, Jen Gerson, Andrew Leach, Trevor Tombe, Travis Toews, Jared Wesley)
NoThanks.Vote (former Alberta Party leader Lindsay Amantea)
Together – “No!” (Public Interest Alberta)
Vote to Stay (Jen Gerson, Jason Kenney, Monte Solberg, Travis Toews)
Current politicians
Provincial party leaders
Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta and MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat (source)
Naheed Nenshi, Leader of the Alberta NDP and MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona(source)
Peter Guthrie, Leader of the Progressive Tory Party and MLA for Airdrie-Cochrane (source)
James Anderson, Leader of the Green Party of Alberta (source)
United Conservative Party MLAs
Tanya Fir, MLA for Calgary-Peigan (source)
Nate Glubish, MLA for Strathcona-Sherwood Park (source)
Nate Horner, MLA for Drumheller-Stettler (source)
Matt Jones, MLA for Calgary-South East (source)
Martin Long, MLA for West Yellowhead (source)
Myles McDougall, MLA for Calgary-Fish Creek (source)
Ric McIver, MLA for Calgary-Hays (source)
Nathan Neudorf, MLA for Lethbridge-East (source)
Demetrios Nicolaides, MLA for Calgary-Bow (source)
Searle Turton, MLA for Spruce Grove-Stony Plain (source)
Dan Williams, MLA for Peace River (source)
Alberta NDP MLAs (source)
Nagwan Al-Guneid, MLA for Calgary-Glenmore
Brooks Arcand-Paul, MLA for Edmonton-West Henday
Diana Batten, MLA for Calgary-Acadia
Parmeet Singh Boparai, MLA for Calgary-Falconridge
Gurinder Brar, MLA for Calgary-North East
Gurtej Singh Brar, MLA for Edmonton-Ellerslie
Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, MLA for Edmonton-Rutherford
Amanda Chapman, MLA for Calgary-Beddington
Joe Ceci, MLA for Calgary-Buffalo
Lorne Dach, MLA for Edmonton-McClung
Jasvir Deol, MLA for Edmonton-Meadows
David Eggen, MLA for Edmonton-North West
Court Ellingson, MLA for Calgary-Foothills
Sarah Elmeligi, MLA for Banff-Kananaskis
Janet Eremenko, MLA for Calgary-Currie
Kathleen Ganley, MLA for Calgary-Mountain View
Nicole Goehring, MLA for Edmonton-Castle Downs
Christina Gray, MLA for Edmonton-Mill Woods
Sharif Haji, MLA for Edmonton-Decore
Julia Hayter, MLA for Calgary-Edgemont
Sarah Hoffman, MLA for Edmonton-Glenora
Rhiannon Hoyle, MLA for Edmonton-South
Nathan Ip, MLA for Edmonton-South West
Janis Irwin, MLA for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood
Kyle Kasawski, MLA for Sherwood Park
Samir Kayande, MLA for Calgary-Elbow
Luanne Metz, MLA for Calgary-Varsity
Rob Miyashiro, MLA for Lethbridge-West
Rakhi Pancholi, MLA for Edmonton-Whitemud
Marie Renaud, MLA for St. Albert
Irfan Sabir, MLA for Calgary-Bhullar-McCall
Marlin Schmidt, MLA for Edmonton-Gold Bar
David Shepherd, MLA for Edmonton-City Centre
Lori Sigurdson, MLA for Edmonton-Riverview
Heather Sweet, MLA for Edmonton-Manning
Lizette Tejada, MLA for Calgary-Klein
Peggy Wright, MLA for Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview
Alberta MPs
Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative MP for Edmonton Manning (source)
John Barlow, Conservative MP for Foothills (source)
Michael Cooper, Conservative MP St. Albert-Sturgeon River (source)
Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative MP for Calgary Forest Lawn (source)
Corey Hogan, Liberal MP for Calgary Confederation (source)
Matt Jeneroux, Liberal MP for Edmonton Riverbend (source)
Pat Kelly, MP for Calgary Crowfoot (source)
Tom Kmeic, Conservative MP for Calgary Shepard (source)
Stephanie Kusie, Conservative MP for Calgary Midnapore (source)
Dane Lloyd, Conservative MP for Parkland (source)
Kelly McCauley, Conservative MP for Edmonton-West (source)
David McKenzie, Conservative MP for Calgary Signal Hill (source)
Greg McLean, Conservative MP for Calgary Centre (source)
Billy Morin, Conservative MP for Edmonton-Northwest (source)
Heather McPherson, NDP MP for Edmonton Strathcona (source)
Eleanor Olszewski, Liberal MP for Edmonton Centre (source)
Pierre Poilievre, Conservative MP for Battle River-Crowfoot and Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (source)
Arnold Viersen, Conservative MP for Peace River-Westlock (source)
Alberta Senators
Senator Paula Simons (source)
Municipal politicians
Corrie DiManno, Mayor of Banff (source)
Jeromy Farkas, Mayor of Calgary (source)
Harrison Clark, Calgary City Councillor
Andrew Knack, Mayor of Edmonton and Edmonton City Council (source)
Sean Krausert, Mayor of Canmore (source)
Cindy Jeffries, Mayor of Red Deer (source)
Scott Olivieri, Mayor of St. Albert (source)
Former politicians
Jim Dinning, former PC MLA and provincial treasurer (source)
Iris Evans, former PC MLA and cabinet minister
Don Iveson, former Mayor of Edmonton (source)
Jason Kenney, former Premier of Alberta (source)
Damien Kurek, former Conservative MP
Thomas Lukaszuk, former PC MLA and cabinet minister (source)
Anne McLellan, former Liberal MP and Deputy Prime Minister (source)
Shirley McClellan, former PC MLA and cabinet minister (source)
Ian McClelland, former Reform MP and PC MLA (source)
Karen McPherson, former Alberta Party MLA (source)
Rachel Notley, former Premier of Alberta
Mary O’Neill, former PC MLA
Shannon Phillips, former NDP MLA and cabinet minister (source)
Mike Shaikh, former elected Senate nominee (source)
Amarjeet Sohi, former Mayor of Edmonton and Liberal MP (source)
Richard Starke, former PC MLA and cabinet minister (source)
Ed Stelmach, former Premier of Alberta (source)
Travis Toews, former UCP MLA and cabinet minister (source)
Michael Walters, former Edmonton City Councillor (source)
Steve West, former PC MLA and cabinet minister (source)
Business people
George Brookman, Former Chair of the Calgary Stampede
Arlene Dickinson, businessperson (source)
Nancy Southern, CEO of ATCO (source)
Supporting Option 2: The Government of Alberta should commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada.
Groups
Alberta’s Choice (Sheila Gunn Reid from The Rebel Media)
Alberta Prosperity Project (UCP constituency president Mitch Sylvestre and lawyer Jeff Rath)
Centurion Project (former Take Back Alberta CEO David Parker)
Let Alberta Decide (Keith Wilson and Tanya Clement)
Let’s Talk Alberta (Restaurant owner Chris Scott)
Pathway to Independence (Cory Morgan from the Western Standard)
Stay Free Alberta (UCP constituency president Mitch Sylvestre)
The Lavigne Show (former People’s Party candidate Jason Lavigne)
Current politicians
Maxime Bernier, Leader of the People’s Party of Canada and former Quebec MP (source)
Cameron Davies, Leader of the Republican Party of Alberta
Paul Hinman, Leader of the Wildrose Loyalty Coalition
Current UCP Officials
Vincent Byfield, President of the Edmonton-South West UCP association
Sheane Meikle, member of the UCP Policy & Governance Standing Committee
Benita Pedersen, President of the St. Albert UCP association
Samantha Steinke, UCP Vice President of Communications
Mitch Sylvestre, CEO of Alberta Prosperity Project and President of the Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul UCP association
Former politicians
Rob Anders, former Alberta Conservative MP (source)
Leon Benoit, former Alberta Conservative MP (source)
Derek Fildebrandt, former Alberta UCP MLA and publisher of the Western Standard website (source)
Art Hanger, former Alberta Conservative MP (source)
Jay Hill, former British Columbia MP and interim Leader of the Maverick Party (source)
Allan Kerpan, former Saskatchewan Reform MP and Saskatchewan Party MLA (source)
Eric Lowther, former Alberta Conservative MP and Rocky View County councillor(source)
Val Meredith, former British Columbia Conservative MP and Mayor of Slave Lake (source)
LaVar Payne, former Alberta Conservative MP (source)
John Riel, former leader of the Alberta First Party
Alberta referendum poll tracker
Éric Grenier is tracking public opinion polling results during the referendum on his excellent TheWrit.ca website. As of June 22, 2026, Grenier’s tracker showed 74.3 per cent of decided Alberta voters supported Alberta remaining in Canada and 25.7 per cent supported Alberta leaving Canada.
Thank you Dave for committing to an ongoing update of the information and who is supporting the separation and who isn't.
If I were someone of note, I would gladly commit my name and business to say that ! and Earth's Refillery Coop are on the side of Alberta remaining a province in Canada.
Shoutout Nancy Southern and Arlene Dickinson - would love to see more prominent business leaders make their position known as well. A lot of them stand to lose a lot and currently benefit even more from Alberta's place in confederation - sitting on the fence to avoid stirring controversy is cowardly. Even more so if they support separatism - put your mouth where your money is.