Three-in-ten residents think Alberta would be “better off as its own country”, up five points since December 2018.
Vancouver, BC [August 7, 2019] – Residents of Alberta are split when asked if they have “more in common with Americans than with those in other parts of Canada”, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative provincial sample, 43% of Albertans agree with this statement, while 43% disagree with it and 14% are undecided.
Almost half of respondents aged 18-to-34 (47%) and aged 55 and over (also 47%) think Albertans have more in common with Americans than with other Canadians. The proportion drops to 37% among respondents aged 35-to-54.
While a majority of those who voted for the United Conservative Party (UCP) in the last provincial election believe Albertans have more in common with Americans than with other Canadians (56%), only 29% of those who voted for the provincial New Democratic Party (NDP) in last April’s ballot concur.
Three-in-ten Albertans (30%, +5 since a similar Research Co. poll conducted in December 2018) believe Alberta would be better off as its own country, while 62% (-7) disagree.
“The proportion of Albertans who appear to be flirting with separation has risen,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “It is important to note that the level of strong disagreement with this statement dropped from 58% in December 2018 to 44% now.”
More than a quarter of respondents (27%, -4 since December 2018) say they consider themselves “Albertans first, and Canadians second”—a proportion that rises to 34% among those aged 55 and over, 34% for those who do not reside in Calgary or Edmonton and 37% among those who voted for the UCP in the last provincial election.
Conversely, three-in-five respondents (59%, -1) say they are “Canadians first, and Albertans second.”
A majority of Albertans (56%) think their views “are different from the rest of the country”—including 64% of men, 63% of those aged 55 and over and 72% of UCP voters.
More than two-in-five Albertans (44%) believe Ralph Klein has been the best Premier of Alberta since November 1985, followed by Rachel Notley with 17% and Don Getty with 6%.
When asked who they believe has been the worst recent premier, 26% of Albertans select Notley, followed by Alison Redford (25%) and Klein (11%).
Photo Credit: Zeitlupe
Methodology:
Results are based on an online study conducted from July 23 to July 25, 2019, among 700 adults in Alberta. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in Alberta. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.7 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
Find our full data set here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca