Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt was interviewed for a B.C. blog that posted a piece rife with tropes about the independence movement based on the discussion. The blog claims the independence movement is based on opposition to the pandemic restrictions of the early 2020s, and that its intent is to create a Christian nationalist society.

To begin with, the independence movement in Alberta has roots that stretch back almost a century. Regional alienation and discomfort within the federation were hallmarks of Alberta politics under William Aberhart’s Social Credit government in the 1930s as it clashed with Ottawa over financial and constitutional authority.

In the 1970s and 1980s, thanks to Pierre Trudeau’s government, the discontent blossomed into a full-blown independence surge leading to the election of a sovereigntist in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills. In the subsequent decades, the independence movement has had ebbs and flows but has always been present in some form. Government policies linked to COVID-19 infuriated freedom lovers but didn’t create the foundation of today’s sovereigntist movement.

There is no evidence of theocratic aspirations from the independence movement either. Much of the movement is based on economic and personal freedom concerns.

Support for greater Alberta autonomy or independence has consistently drawn from energy-sector workers, rural communities, fiscal conservatives frustrated by equalization, constitutional reformers who view the Senate and federal overreach as structural problems, and people who simply see Ottawa’s energy and climate policies as existential threats to the province’s economic model. Urban support from diverse communities is a factor in the movement as well.

The piece neglected to mention that one of the most comprehensive polls conducted on Alberta independence found 46% support for the concept among Indigenous people. Indigenous reserves aren’t known to be hotbeds of Christian nationalism.

Bratt and the interviewer simply dove into the lazy narrative that the independence movement exists of little more than angry, white Christian farmers. In reality, the movement has an increasingly diverse support base covering all social demographics. Federalists using loaded characterizations of independence supporters could entrench independence sentiment more deeply as trust is lost in the narrative from supporters of the status quo.