People fly flags during an Alberta Independence Rally in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on October 17.
Megan Albu/AFP/Getty Images
See all topics Email Link Copied!

In the end, it wasn’t even close. Alberta’s preliminary referendum results were a definitive rejection of the idea that the province would be better off as an independent country. By a 3-to-1 margin, the province chose to remain in Canada and said “no” to a second, binding vote on secession.

Nonetheless, separatist activist Jeffrey Rath was rather cheerful when he spoke to CNN the morning after the loss. “We don’t see this as a setback,” Rath said Tuesday. “For a fledgling political movement, it was a major accomplishment and a hell of a victory.”