The question du jour in Alberta this week is why we were voting on an issue when everyday already knew what the result would be—that Albertans overwhelmingly opposed a referendum on separation. The answer of course was to save Danielle Smith’s job as head of her party.

Her predecessor got the boot because he offended what he referred to as the party’s “lunatics.” The premier has always been careful, therefore, to keep her MAGA credentials in order. At least she has now promised no more separation nonsense as long as she’s party boss; but as some of the lunatics are already calling for her head, that may not be all that long.

Personally, I was delighted by the magnitude of the result, over 75 percent Remain. I was expecting that people who had little interest in separation but wanted to “send Ottawa a message” would push the referendum option much higher. In any case, that 25 percent for another referendum is a soft 25 percent for independence whereas the 75 percent for Remain is a solid 75 percent for Canada.

I was not delighted with the vote on the immigration questions. On all four, the result was a yes for discriminating against newcomers. They were all close votes but still, the results were offensive to our immigrant friends and neighbours, and cast doubt about our famed Western hospitality. Disappointing. The only consolation is that these questions, unlike the remain/separation issue, were never debated, so many of the votes might be simply knee-jerk reactions.

At last count from Elections Alberta (the official count will be announced October 29th), the four questions about constitutional change went No, i.e. against Alberta working with other provincial governments for constitutional change. That included, to my surprise, the question about abolishing the Senate.

Even though the referendum was unnecessary and the motive suspect, one must admit that the effort was an interesting exercise in democracy. The fact that we can choose to stay or go, and there is a legal structure in place for choosing the latter, is no small thing.

What a greatly improved world we would have if certain other countries’ systems had similar respect for their citizens. China re Taiwan and Russia re Ukraine come immediately to mind. Such regimes seem incapable of recognizing, or caring, that a nation can be a quarrelsome family yet be a strong family.

The referendum was also, I further admit, entertaining. A ridiculously expensive bit of fun that I hope will not be repeated for a long, long time. At least in this province. Quebec? Well, apparently that’s next up.