Brexit holds a clear lesson for Alberta independence

By Bruce Pardy, published by the Western Standard

Alberta should heed the lessons of Brexit. So suggests Ian Cooper, a senior research fellow at Dublin City University's Brexit Institute. In May, the CBC published a piece citing Cooper’s sense of déjà vu. “I think that Brexit has a lot of lessons to teach Albertans about the dangers,” he said, of an independence referendum. He’s right, but not in the way that he means.

In Brief by Rights Probe

Prof. Bruce Pardy points to the lesson of Brexit as a warning for Alberta’s independence movement. He argues that because the Brexit question was “direct, clear, and straightforward,” it produced an unexpected result that left the U.K. government under David Cameron with little choice but to carry out the voters’ verdict.

Not so with Danielle Smith’s administration. Smith’s “referendum to have a referendum” provides her government with a buffer against the shock of a similar outcome and affords it time to shape public opinion in Alberta, reducing the likelihood of a vote to leave.

What can Alberta’s independence advocates do? Prof. Pardy offers a way forward.

Read this commentary in full at the publisher’s website here.