Alberta separatism referendum prompts support, worry in border city Lloydminster

Alberta separatism referendum prompts support, worry in border city Lloydminster

Alberta border with Saskatchewan runs through Lloydminster

The issue of Alberta separatism has permeated every part of the province, but those conversations look a bit different in the border city of Lloydminster.

Marked by massive red posts on 50th Avenue, the Alberta-Saskatchewan border runs right through the municipality, which is 250 kilometres east of Edmonton.

For more than 100 years, the city has learned to exist in this unique situation — schools teach Saskatchewan’s curriculum while the municipal government operates under Alberta legislation. Conversely, Lloydminster’s city hall sits in Alberta while the local hospital is in Saskatchewan.

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“We’ve been operating for many, many decades this way and what seems like a very unique and challenging topic becomes, in some ways, kind of seamless,” said Coun. Jason Whiting.

In October, Albertans will vote on whether to stay in Canada or for a second, binding referendum on whether to leave. If the second, binding vote is ultimately successful, it could have substantial impacts on Lloydminster, according to residents who spoke with CBC News.

Founded in 1903, the community predates the creation of both Alberta and Saskatchewan. A charter helps guide the city on how to operate.

“Possibly there is no difference whatsoever and we just have to renegotiate or redo our charter,” said Whiting about separation’s impacts. “But in some ways, it could be more complicated than that."

“There’s a lot of what ifs and what would it look like if we did have a more substantial border in our community.”

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Multiple polls have shown the majority of Albertans want to stay in Canada.

But similar to many communities in the province, opinions in Lloydminster on whether Alberta should stay or should pursue separation are mixed.

Eugene Seguin has spent most of his life in Lloydminster and runs a tire shop on the Alberta side, approximately two kilometres from the provincial border.

He opened his business in 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic, and later supported people protesting pandemic restrictions in Coutts, Alta. A Canadian flag that he said flew at the protest is displayed prominently at his shop.

“I was proud of my country. I’m not so proud of my country anymore,” Seguin said.

In the last few years, he started supporting the idea of Alberta separating from Canada.

“Our government hasn’t changed in how many years and all we’re doing is getting poorer and poorer, paying more and more taxes,” he said.

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He acknowledged he does not know how things would work if Alberta were to leave Confederation but said, for him, it’s a risk worth taking.

“There has to be some kind of change,” Seguin said, adding his business, which welcomes Saskatchewan customers, would “figure it out” if the provincial border were replaced by an international one.

Mitch Sylvestre, CEO of pro-separatist group Alberta Prosperity Project, told CBC News that, if the province were to separate, the hope is Lloydminster would be able to function as it currently does but acknowledged many things would have to be negotiated and figured out.

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Richard Starke has lived in Lloydminster for 43 years. A former city councillor, then Progressive Conservative MLA for the region, Starke is a staunch Canadian.

“[My] mom and dad always taught us to be proud of our country,” he said.

“The notion that our country should be broken apart because of grievances, some of them perceived, some of them real but because of grievances of any sort is, to me, a very unfortunate thing.”

Starke said it would be “catastrophic,” if Alberta were to separate and if an international border ran through Lloydminster.

He pointed to how some infrastructure, such as the sewage treatment plant, is in Saskatchewan while other municipal buildings, such as city hall, are in Alberta.

“Where we are now with an inter-provincial border, I would describe it as inconvenient and frustrating at times,” he said.

“If that were to then be elevated to a point where … now we’re in two nations, we’re two completely different countries, it becomes a magnitude more difficult.”

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Separation would have significant impacts on life and business in the city, Starke said.

“It becomes a matter where you have to … think about, well, do I need to go across this border today? Do I need to transact business in a different country today?”

CBC News asked Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s office if there is an official stance on what would happen to the border city if a second, binding referendum were successful and if any planning has been done.

In response, Smith's spokesperson Sam Blackett reiterated that the premier has said the government and UCP caucus and party support Alberta remaining in Canada.

“We remain focused on our work to restore Albertans hope in our country by building a stronger, more sovereign Alberta within a united Canada,” reads Blackett’s statement.

Julia Wong is a senior reporter based in Edmonton.