Prime Minister Mark Carney said residents made a "clear choice" for unity amid trade tensions with the US, while acknowledging after the vote that "the frustrations that many Albertans have felt are real." Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who put the nonbinding question on Monday's ballot to settle the debate, said residents voted for "a stronger Alberta in a united Canada" and scheduled a live address for Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. local time. Separatist groups, which had argued that Ottawa's climate rules hurt an oil industry pushing national output toward 5.3 million BPD, said "this is not defeat."
Even as voters rejected secession, tallies showed they approved eight of Smith's nine other ballot questions seeking expanded provincial powers from Ottawa, which Carney had urged residents to vote down. Voters backed requiring proof of citizenship to vote in provincial elections by 63.8%, greater provincial control over immigration by 54.8%, abolishing the unelected federal Senate by 53.4% and provincial appointment of superior court judges by 51.6%, while narrowly voting 51.1% to 48.9% against allowing provinces to opt out of federal health and social programs without losing funding.