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Four politicians who once represented Alberta in Parliament have added their names to the province’s growing separatist debate, moving an argument once confined largely to activist circles closer to the conservative political establishment.
LaVar Payne, Art Hanger, Rob Anders and Eric Lowther have reportedly endorsed Alberta leaving Canada. Anders has gone further, suggesting that an independent province should examine a possible future relationship with the United States, including arrangements resembling those of Puerto Rico or Guam. Their support arrives as Alberta prepares for an October 19 vote concerning its future in Confederation. Yet the former MPs do not speak for today’s federal Conservative caucus: party leader Pierre Poilievre has promised that Conservative MPs would campaign to keep Alberta in Canada, while Premier Danielle Smith has also said she will vote for the province to remain.
LaVar Payne Has Already Looked Beyond Canada’s Borders
Four Former Conservative MPs Back Alberta Separation; One Says Province Should Explore U.S. Future
LaVar Payne’s endorsement is notable because his involvement in the independence movement predates the latest referendum debate. Payne represented Medicine Hat as a Conservative MP from 2008 until 2015, winning election twice during Stephen Harper’s time as prime minister. His parliamentary assignments included the national defence, agriculture, public safety and Aboriginal affairs committees, giving him direct experience with federal institutions that would become central to any attempt to separate Alberta from Canada. His decision to support independence therefore comes from someone who spent seven years working inside the political system he now believes Alberta should consider leaving.
Payne was also identified in 2025 as a founder of the “Delegation to Washington,” a group that proposed contacting officials in the Trump administration to assess American interest in Alberta’s future. Its stated possibilities included an economic union with the United States, territorial status or eventual statehood after Alberta became independent. That effort demonstrates that Payne’s position is not simply a reaction to the latest provincial vote. It reflects a broader strategy among some separatist organizers to establish international relationships before independence has secured majority support at home. The approach is politically explosive because negotiations with a foreign government would raise questions about sovereignty, democratic authorization and outside interference. The U.S. State Department later confirmed that staff-level meetings had taken place with members of Alberta’s separatist movement, although it said no additional meetings were planned. What began as a provincial protest movement had, at least briefly, reached officials beyond Canada’s borders.
Art Hanger Brings Decades of Reform-Era History
Art Hanger’s support connects the present movement to the western populism that transformed Canadian conservatism during the 1990s. Hanger represented Calgary Northeast through the Reform Party, Canadian Alliance and eventually the modern Conservative Party, remaining in Parliament until 2008. His lengthy service included work on national defence, immigration and justice. During the Harper government, he chaired the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. That background makes his endorsement symbolically important: Hanger was not merely a protest candidate, but a participant in the gradual evolution of Reform into a party capable of forming a national government.
There is nevertheless a major difference between demanding greater provincial autonomy and dismantling Confederation. Reform-era politicians built influence by arguing that Western Canada deserved a stronger voice in Ottawa. Separation would abandon that effort and replace it with an uncertain constitutional negotiation involving borders, debt, citizenship, pensions, trade, federal property, Indigenous treaties and access to markets. A referendum victory would not allow Alberta to leave Canada immediately. The Supreme Court established during the Quebec secession debate that a clear majority supporting a clear question would create an obligation to negotiate, not an automatic right to independence. Those negotiations would have to respect federalism, democracy, constitutional government, minority protections and Indigenous rights. Hanger’s involvement therefore highlights how far part of the western conservative movement has travelled—from seeking institutional change inside Canada to questioning whether Alberta should remain in the federation at all.
Rob Anders Wants Alberta to Examine a U.S. Future
Rob Anders has offered the most provocative proposal of the four. According to the June 15 report, the former Calgary West MP believes that an independent Alberta should investigate a potential future with the United States. He reportedly referred to arrangements “similar to Puerto Rico or Guam,” suggesting something other than conventional American statehood could be considered. Anders served in Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and won six consecutive federal elections under the Reform, Canadian Alliance and Conservative banners. His 18 years in office make him the longest-serving MP among the four politicians now backing separation.
The comparison with Puerto Rico and Guam raises as many questions as it answers. Both are U.S. territories rather than states. They have elected representatives in the House of Representatives, but those representatives cannot cast final votes on the House floor. Territorial arrangements can also involve different tax treatment, federal benefits and constitutional rights than those enjoyed by residents of the 50 states. Alberta would therefore not necessarily receive the political influence that comes with statehood, despite having a population of several million people and an economy heavily tied to energy exports. Admission as a state would also require action by the U.S. Congress and could become entangled in American partisan politics. Anders’s proposal may appeal to separatists who view access to the enormous U.S. economy as an answer to the risks of independence. However, it also forces the movement to confront a fundamental question: whether leaving Canada would produce greater sovereignty or simply exchange influence in one federation for a less powerful position in another.
Eric Lowther Adds Another Voice From the Reform Generation
Eric Lowther represented Calgary Centre from 1997 to 2000, first as a Reform MP and then as a member of the Canadian Alliance. During his single term, he served on committees examining industry, Canadian heritage, child custody and young people considered at risk. He lost the seat in the 2000 federal election, but his endorsement still matters because it further broadens the group of former parliamentarians willing to advocate openly for Alberta’s departure. Lowther, Hanger and Anders all entered federal politics through parties created to give Western Canada greater power within the national system. Their present position suggests that some veterans of that movement no longer believe internal reform offers an adequate answer.
Still, four former MPs do not establish that separation commands majority support among Albertans, nor do they demonstrate that current Conservative legislators share their position. Recent polling summarized by Reuters has generally placed separatist support at roughly one-third of the province’s voters. Premier Smith says she supports a “strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada,” and Poilievre has said his entire federal caucus would campaign against separation. The October 19 question is also non-binding. It asks whether Alberta should remain a province or whether the provincial government should begin the legal process required to pursue a later, binding referendum. Approximately 700,000 signatures were gathered across competing petitions seeking a public vote, showing that the subject has attracted considerable attention even though the two campaigns favour opposite outcomes. Lowther’s endorsement adds another recognizable name to the separatist side, but Alberta’s future will ultimately depend on current voters—not former office-holders revisiting battles that began decades ago.
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