Way back in the early 1990s, when we rode dinosaurs to school, I remember a college professor looking at the breakup of the Soviet Union, and speculating that in the years to come, the United States or other western countries could see a similar split into smaller states.

By and large, that has not come to pass… yet. But that doesn’t mean some hostile states haven’t tried to fan the flames of separatism. Over the years, the Russian government has actively collaborated with European and American separatist movements — Alaska, as well as “Texas and California in the United States, Catalonia in Spain, and Scotland in the United Kingdom.” Few of these movements have picked up any serious momentum, although it’s unsurprising that various regional peoples and movements get frustrated with their national government and periodically start making noises about breaking off and forming their own country.

But there’s another separatist movement that appears to be gaining some steam. On October 19, the Canadian province of Alberta will vote on a referendum… not on separation from the rest of Canada, but whether to hold another referendum on the province separating from Canada.

At this point, polling suggests the referendum will not pass, with anywhere from........

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