Fiery speeches, LED hats and infighting: inside an Alberta separatist conference

WeUnify’s Reclaiming Alberta brought together ardent supporters of independence from Canada while highlighting key disagreements over strategy – not least how close a free Alberta should be to the US

The debate began with a simple question in a dark Calgary hotel ballroom: does Alberta need Canada?

By the time the audience was asked to vote at the end, more than three-quarters had answered no – a decisive measure of the convictions of a room packed with some of Alberta’s most ardent independence supporters, some of whom had paid C$900 (£480) for a “visionary” weekend pass.