Alberta journalists Danielle Paradis and Tim Querengesser explore the upcoming Alberta separatist referendum.

Photo: Amanda Erickson

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh my lanta do we have an episode for you!

On Oct. 19, Albertans will vote on whether to hold a binding referendum on leaving Canada. Journalists Tim Querengesser and Danielle Paradis spend the summer with the people who want out of Canada: on a freeway overpass in Edmonton, at an Alberta Day celebration in Mirror, AB and in a Baptist church in Calgary. They ask what's driving the separatist movement, and what role Christian nationalism plays in it.

Credits:

• Produced by Danielle Paradis, Tim Querengesser and Kristi Lee.
• Journalistic and production help by Amanda Erickson.
• Studio recording and sound production by Omar Mouallem and Zach Dafoe with HAQ Story Studios.
• Produced with the support of Canadian True Crime.
• 
  

New episodes weekly. Follow or subscribe so you don't miss one.

Feedback: SeperationAnxietyPodcast@protonmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Separatists talk about a trillion-dollar surplus and an Independent Alberta with no income tax. So, where are the numbers to prove Albertans would be better off?

Dani and Tim start with an Edmonton town hall where separatist organizer Kathy Flett ran into a hostile crowd. From there they check the math behind the movement's biggest promises.

Author Tyler Dawson traces Alberta's grievances back to before it was a province and explains why the National Energy Program still hurts 40 years later. Political scientist Jared Wesley says today's separatism has more in common with MAGA and Brexit, than with Western alienation. Finally, Professor Lisa Young explains why she calls Premier Danielle Smith "Schrödinger's premier."

In this episode

• Tyler Dawson, Author of The Republic of Alberta: An Idea That Won't Go Away and opinion editor at The Globe and Mail.
• Jared Wesley, political scientist at the University of Alberta and the Common Ground project.
• Lisa Young, political scientist at the University of Calgary and author of an Alberta politics newsletter,

Mentioned in this episode

• The Republic of Alberta: An Idea That Won't Go Away by Tyler Dawson
• Report: The Economic and Fiscal Implications of Alberta Separation, University of Calgary (September 2026)
• DisinfoWatch report on U.S. involvement in the Alberta independence movement (May 2026)
• Common Ground: commongroundpolitics.ca

Credits

Separation Anxiety is produced by Danielle Paradis and Tim Querengesser. With production assistance from Kristi Lee. Journalistic and production help by Amanda Erickson. Studio recording and sound production by Omar Mouallem and Zach Dafoe with HAQ Story Studios. Produced with the support of Canadian True Crime.

New episodes weekly. Follow us on Substack: separationanxietypodcast.substack.com

Feedback: SeparationAnxietyPodcast@protonmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.