'It's not great': Alberta independence movement takes hit in Olds byelection

Calgary Herald

24-06-2025

OTTAWA — David Parker, the founder of conservative activist group Take Back Alberta, said on Monday morning that, by the end of the day, Albertans would know the strength of the province's budding independence movement.
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'It's not great,' he tweeted shortly before midnight, as the last of the results trickled in from Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills.
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The rural Alberta riding, one of three up for grabs in Monday's provincial byelection, was closely watched for a potential separatist breakthrough.
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In the end, the two pro-independence candidates on the ballot took home a respectable 19 per cent of the vote, but fell short of both major parties.
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'I see a lot of talking heads and pundits and pollsters that are all quite vigorously calling for us to pack it in. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news for them, but we're just getting started,' said Davies.
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He said going into the byelection that he was aiming for about 20 per cent of the vote.
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Davies, who favours Alberta becoming an independent constitutional republic, concedes that the Alberta Republicans' name and red colours may have tethered it too closely to U.S. President Donald Trump.
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'(The branding) certainly did cause questions about what we were,' said Davies.
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'Did it leave an opening for others to spread misinformation? Absolutely it did.'
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Davies pushed back against assertions throughout the campaign that he wants Alberta to enter the U.S. as the 51st state, a claim he flatly denies.
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Davies, who lives in south Red Deer, said he'll be running in the next provincial election but hasn't decided which riding he'll contest.