The leader of the Wexit movement in Alberta is poo-pooing a poll showing only 18% of people in the province want independence from Canada..The poll, by Abacus, shows that while 75% of Albertans think the province has been treated unfairly, only 18% said they would be happy if the province withdrew from Confederation..Another 18% said they would be “ok” with that outcome, 24% would be unhappy and 39% very unhappy..“Albertans shouldn’t believe it. Let’s be real, I don’t trust polls. You have to look at who’s paying for them,” said Peter Downing on Wednesday..Downing pointed out polls showed Donald Trump had little chance of becoming U.S. president..And he said the fact another 18% were okay with independence showed “enthusiasm for a new movement.”.He said the 36% figure was similar to the independence vote had in Quebec before the hotly-contested 1995 referendum.“That level of support means we will be winning seats provincially and federally, and that’s a good thing,” said Downing, who will be spending the weekend in Wexit meetings in Grande Prairie..“We are less than a month out from the federal election so those numbers are pretty good.”.A Wexit meeting in Calgary last week drew around 1,700 people. Another is set for Nov. 30 in Red Deer..And Downing said a massive rally demanding a referendum will be held Jan. 11 in front of the Legislature..The poll showed most Albertans also think they would not be better of economically if it leaves, with only 23% of people thinking their standard of living would improve; twice as many think it would suffer..The survey was conducted online with 3,000 adult from Nov. 12-17. The margin of error is +/- 1.79%, 19 times out of 20. .The full poll can be found here: https://abacusdata.ca/alberta-wexit-separation-poll-abacus-data/
