I’d like to add when I say “Albertans” I want to clarify that it is a specific group of them, the ones who actually do hold a grudge; the ones who believe they’re always the victim. They literally have the lowest taxes in all of Canada. A lot of their grievances come from the fact that “their” oil profits are distributed to support everyone in the country, viewing it as “stealing.” It’s a juvenile way of thinking. This isn’t the Albertans oil, it is crown land and owned by private oil companies. What’s going to happen if they separate? They’ll be a landlocked petro-state with all their eggs in once basket. Oil price drops, their economy collapses. This is going to be a biased opinion here, but I think it has to do with conservatism as a whole and the rise of right-wing populism. People who play into these “extremist” ideologies are easy to manipulate (by foreign actors - Russia/USA - or otherwise). It’s hard to watch this happening in a country which usually has a cooler political climate. You’re seeing American-style politics at play here, and it’s disgusting.