Lethbridge Liberal candidate Chris Spearman removes campaign signs on April 30, after losing his riding to a Conservative candidate. Tens of thousands of Western Canadians have newly registered with the Alberta Prosperity Project, which is collecting the names of people who support a sovereignty referendum Daniel Fotheringham watched election coverage from his travel trailer on an oil-and-gas job site Monday night with a mixture of resignation, determination and fury. “I was yelling at the TV,” he said.

“Personally, at this point I‘m now behind the separation of Alberta.” And so Mr. Fotheringham added his own voice to a chorus of Western discontent whose crescendo has gained considerably in rancour this week. He is one of tens of thousands who have newly registered with the Alberta Prosperity Project, which is collecting the names of people who support a sovereignty referendum. It wasn’t the kind of rousing reception Mark Carney might have hoped for on election night, when he promised to meet the crises confronting the country with the “overwhelming positive force of a united Canada.” He had reason to grin as he broke out into a post-speech dance to the pulsing beat of a Toronto rap-pop-rock group after leading the Liberals to political resurrection.

But the title of the tune that had Mr. Carney raising his hands offered a more stark summation of the situation thrust upon him and the country: “Whoa Is Me.” Rather than the unity he seeks in confronting hostilities from the White House, Mr. Carney may discover that his victory has hastened a national unity crisis at home – this time from the west. In the wake of the election, Albertans were evenly split on whether the future of Canada is positive (40 per cent) or negative (38 per cent), in a Nanos poll commissioned this week by The Globe and Mail. But negative sentiment outweighed optimism among young people, men and rural Albertans.

The Liberals picked up nearly 28 per cent of votes in Alberta, their highest percentage since 1968 – and nearly two-thirds of those polled said they felt Alberta would fare best economically as part of Canada. There was wide agreement, too, on what Albertans want from Mr. Carney: Nearly 60 per cent of those polled said approving pipelines and energy projects must be a top priority. And more than one in five said the federal government must more closely listen to the province.

But a slightly greater number said they believe there is no longer anything Ottawa can do to make things better. Indeed, even as the Prime Minister was strutting on the dance floor, Albertans were signing up for a sovereignty referendum at a rate that hit 4,000 an hour on election night, said Mitch Sylvestre, who leads the Alberta Prosperity Project. He now counts numbers that would be sufficient to force a vote under a lowered threshold for citizen initiatives proposed this week by provincial Premier Danielle Smith.

The likelihood of an Alberta sovereignty referendum is now “absolutely not in question,” said Mr. Sylvestre. “It’s incredible to see. This is a movement.

There’s going to have to be some serious conversations – if we even have a chance to save Canada as a Confederation.” Albertans, Ms. Smith said this week, are “hurt and betrayed.” She reiterated her calls for acquiescence to a nine-point list of demands from the federal government – although, when asked if the door was open to Alberta separation, she answered: “Not by me.” But, she added, “if citizens want to put a question on a ballot and get enough of their fellow citizens to sign that petition, then those questions will be put forward.” The door, then, is far from closed. Indeed, across the vast reaches of Conservative electoral blue that continue with few interruptions from Buffalo Point, Man. to Bear Camp, B.C., the return of Liberal government to Ottawa has brought new urgency to questions about how a country beset by internal grievances and menaced by external threats can continue as an economic and political unit.

Mr. Fotheringham, 43, is an unlikely challenger of the decided order. He grew up in a liberal home, with a mother who graduated from Berkeley. His own politics drifted right as he built an oilpatch career, but he could never find reason to align with friends and colleagues who were embracing a more radical political idea.

They were losing faith in Canada itself. “I‘ve always purported Canada to be this great nation,” he said. That changed when he watched Mr. Carney win.

“It’s just not the same nation any more.” Mr. Fotheringham said. “We’ve been completely ignored over the last 10 years,” he added. “And it’s time for us to make some noise.” Western alienation has been woven into Canadian politics from the dawn of the country.

Barely a year after Alberta and Saskatchewan joined Confederation, the federal government was being blamed for a coal famine that brought suffering to the new provinces. Open this photo in gallery: Amid growing Western discontent, some in Saskatchewan have begun to collect signatures toward a referendum on the province's sovereignty. Downtown Moose Jaw, Sask., on May 1.

Bryan Chadwick, right, wears a hat gifted to him by Kin Woo, owner of the Uptown Cafe, which reads “I heart Canada” and features the Saskatchewan flag. Shannon VanRaes/The Globe and Mail More than a century later, there are a great many more reasons for grievance. In the boardrooms of Western oil and gas corporations, chief executives are joining to argue for relief from onerous regulations.

Provincial leaders and farmers want resolution to punishing Chinese tariffs on Canadian pork and canola. On the streets of Saskatchewan, signatures are being collected toward an independence plebiscite in that province, too. All the while, the White House stands ready to take advantage of any weakness in a country Mr. Trump wants to make his own.

“The administration tried to effectively extort the Ukrainians out of much of the mineral wealth of their country, because they thought they had the leverage to do so. They’re not going to treat you any more nicely,” said Alex Muir, an international campaign consultant and pollster who is a principal with Pulse Decision Science. “The situation for Carney is volatile in any number of ways.” Hanging heavy over the West is the question of Quebec.

If Mr. Carney wants to calm Western sentiment, he must “give us everything Quebec has. Everything,” said Mr. Sylvestre, pointing to equalization payments, Senate representation and more autonomy on taxation and pensions. But his organization has clearly looked to Quebec for another example: of how to foment secession.

The Alberta Prosperity Project’s website includes a detailed discussion of the Clarity Act, the federal legislation passed in response to the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum. Alberta secessionists are trying “to follow the same example they did when Quebec tried to separate,” said Billy-Joe Tuccaro, chief of the Mikisew Cree First Nation. He sees the threat as sufficiently serious that he and other Indigenous leaders have begun to contemplate an international legal challenge to defend treaties that were signed before the creation of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

“They figure they can do whatever they want. And we’re sick of it,” he said, adding that for Indigenous leaders, “there is no way we will ever agree to separation.” Indeed, “no provincial initiative can redefine or erase our nationhood,” the chiefs of the Blackfoot Confederacy said in a statement Friday. Earlier this week, Chief Tuccaro co-signed a pointed letter to Ms. Smith with Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation Chief Sheldon Sunshine, calling on her to cease and desist from separatist actions that they say are “illegal.” They sent a separate letter to Mr. Carney, which concluded with a demand: “We respectfully ask that you get the province of Alberta in line.” Open this photo in gallery: Wearing an Edmonton Oilers shirt, Prime Minister Mark Carney campaigns in Edmonton, Alta., on Sunday, April 27, the day before the federal election.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press Mr. Carney has started off with a softer approach.

He began his first comments as newly-elected Prime Minister with an olive branch to the West, pledging to govern for all Canadians, and to be ambitious in developing oil and gas, nuclear power and critical minerals. “Let’s put an end to the divisions and anger of the past,” Mr. Carney said, as he talked up new trade and energy corridors. “It’s time to build Canada into an energy superpower in both clean and conventional energy.” Born in the Northwest Territories but raised in Alberta, Mr. Carney is keenly aware of rising Western resentment against Ottawa, said a Liberal source close to Mr. Carney.

The Prime Minister, the source said, is determined to develop a “collective will” among the country’s premiers to quickly develop energy infrastructure, including liquefied natural gas facilities and pipelines. Nor, the source said, was he resorting to hollow rhetoric with his election-night invocation of a mantra to “build, baby, build.” The Prime Minister believes turning Canada into an energy superpower is essential to rebuilding the economy and diversifying trade away from the United States. Ms. Smith, on social media Friday afternoon, said she had a “positive first meeting” with Mr. Carney.

“We spoke at length about the policies and legislation that are holding back Alberta‘s economy, and specific proposals for projects and legislative reforms that will significantly increase market access for Alberta oil and gas, agricultural products and other goods,” the Premier said. Ms. Smith added that it would take a tremendous effort to repair the damage Ottawa has caused Alberta‘s economy over the last decade, but that the conversation was “a positive first step.” The brief post marked a sharp shift in Ms. Smith‘s tone toward Ottawa and the federal Liberals. How Mr. Carney rebuilds that trust with the West is one of the crucial tests of his leadership, beginning with the Cabinet he assembles.

The Liberals have few Western caucus members from whom to choose, just two in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan – the first to win office there since 2015. Open this photo in gallery: In the Calgary Confederation riding, Corey Hogan, a longtime political strategist and former Alberta government communications executive, was recently elected as the Liberal MP — the only Liberal seat in the city.Sarah B. Groot/The Globe and Mail In Calgary Confederation, Corey Hogan is under consideration. Although he spent most of the campaign attacking Ms. Smith, Mr. Hogan is regarded as smart, capable and constructive – the kind of person who could be an effective intermediary with the Premier, a Conservative source said.

Mr. Carney himself intends to deal with the Western complaints issue forcefully by spending much more time in Alberta and Saskatchewan than his predecessor, a senior Liberal insider said. But, the insider cautioned, stoking separatist sentiment risks playing into Mr. Trump’s hands in what are expected to be tough trade negotiations with the U.S. Those talks are expected to begin after the Prime Minister meets the U.S. President at the White House next week. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the Liberal and Conservative sources because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Still, after a decade of federal Liberal rule, the wellspring of frustration runs deep, said Ian Brodie, who served as chief of staff under former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper. Under Justin Trudeau, Ottawa banned tankers on the B.C. coast, imposed emission caps on oil and gas projects, killed the Northern Gateway pipeline and stood by while U.S. President Joe Biden cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline, even as another pipeline to the Atlantic – Energy East – was scrapped because of federal regulatory hurdles.

Mr. Carney has already reversed course on Mr. Trudeau’s consumer carbon tax. Pivoting in other ways to encourage the extraction and export of resources is not complicated, Mr. Brodie argued. As just one example, the Prime Minister could ease tensions with the West by backing further expansion of the LNG Canada project in Kitimat, B.C.

Such a decision, with financing from the federal Infrastructure Bank and accommodation for the emission gap, could be done very quickly since it does not require legislation, Mr. Brodie said. Similarly, he called it a “no-brainer” for the Prime Minister to approve the NexGen Energy uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan. The project is capable of producing 25 per cent of the world’s mined uranium supply when in operation.

Saskatchewan approved that project a year and a half ago, and Premier Scott Moe has expressed frustration that it has been held up in Ottawa. Mr. Moe wants to sit down with Mr. Carney to talk about setting aside the emissions cap on certain projects, eliminating clean electricity regulations and finding way to lessen the impact of industrial carbon taxes. “I have not given up on Saskatchewan’s role in the federation,” Mr. Moe said this week.

“We just want to be treated fairly.” Jeff Olson, owner of Innisfail Bowling and Diner, was an early adopter of Western separation, running as an Alberta Independence Party candidate in the 2019 election. Innisfail Bowling and Diner sits on the main drag in this Prairie town just south of Red Deer, with a vibe somewhere between bobby socks and fluorescent disco. It is a place that seems to exist outside of politics.

But owner Jeff Olson is quick to offer his analysis of the election’s outcome. “I think it is kind of brilliant,” he says from behind the bar. “Because now Alberta can separate.” Mr. Olson was an early adopter of Western separation: He ran in the 2019 provincial election, tallying 213 votes, under the Alberta Independence Party banner.

Alberta, he says, has been supporting all of Canada. He is not keen to become the 51st state, but would rather that than “being part of a country that is going to landlock you.” Mr. Olson doesn’t think there’s anything Mr. Carney could do to soothe his angst, and he is not alone in wondering whether Albertans will listen when Mr. Carney speaks. Rick Matz came to the Innisfail Auction Market this week looking for livestock, – he bought two cow-calf pairs, six yearlings and six spec cows at Wednesday’s regular sale – but was itching to talk about the election.

Mr. Matz is no ardent conservative. “It made my day that Poilievre got the boot,” he said, referring to the Conservative Leader losing his own seat. But he understands the Albertans who still hold a grudge against the Liberals for Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s National Energy Program, which has haunted politics in the west for 45 years.

Mr. Matz is not optimistic there’s anything Mr. Carney can do to convince Albertans to quiet down the separatist chatter. “People won’t listen,” he said. Open this photo in gallery: Rick Matz, who lives in Cremona, Alta., visits the Innisfail Auction Market looking to purchase livestock.

Though Mr. Matz is not an ardent Conservative, he understands the Albertans who still hold a long-standing grudge against the Liberals.Sarah B Groot/The Globe and Mail Instead, some are now wondering if they might be better with a new leader, one in the White House. On a rainy afternoon in Moose Jaw, Sask., nearly a dozen people told a Globe and Mail reporter that they support Mr. Trump and his musings about making Canada a 51st state. Hamlin Whyte, 37, said he believes Saskatchewan has more in common with Montana, because of their agricultural economies, significant oil fields and similar demographics.

“So why wouldn’t the U.S.A. treat us better than Canada, where it’s not like my vote mattered anyway?” he asked. Some in Saskatchewan have begun to collect signatures toward a referendum, said Brandon Whelan, 32. He is himself no separatist.

But he recalled how alienated he felt when he was in Ottawa for the Freedom Convoy protests in 2022. “I had my two-year-old kid with me there then,” he said. “And people just looked at us like we were some of kind of foreign entity.” Indeed, what do the people of the open prairie spaces hold in common with those who inhabit the glass towers of urban Canada?

“We need our guns because we need to hunt,” Mr. Whelan said. “We don’t need your carbon taxes because they affect us in ways you can’t even imagine.” During the election, Saskatchewan’s Mr. Moe openly and repeatedly told residents to vote for the Conservatives. On Thursday, at the provincial legislature, Mr. Moe was asked whether he would support secession, should a referendum be held.

He did not explicitly clarify his position, saying instead that the province is not interested in such a division. “But the government of Saskatchewan is certainly not interested in the status quo, either, a status quo where our province is being treated unfairly by a federal government,” he said. Open this photo in gallery: Contractor Ryan MacPhail at his home in Moose Jaw, Sask.Shannon VanRaes/The Globe and Mail In a province that elected Conservatives in all but one of its ridings, some believe the only way to have their voices heard is by pursuing independence.

To think that separation could be simply achieved with the scratching of a referendum ballot is “ridiculous,” said contractor Ryan MacPhail. “But I get why people here – and I would say it’s a huge group now – really feel that way,” he said as he stood outside his garage, a glass of whisky in hand, a few days after the election. “Our lives are being federally guided by people who have no idea what it’s like to live and work where we do.

They just don’t get us.” Atop the boxcars they rode eastward toward Ottawa, the soot-blackened men sang to protest and to rally support. “Scorn to take the crumbs they drop us; All is ours by right! Onward, men, all hell can’t stop us; Crush the parasites!” It was June of 1935, and from the depths of the Great Depression emerged a resistance to the distant leaders of a federal government held responsible for paying little heed to the plight of swelling ranks of the unemployed and homeless.

They left by freight trains from Vancouver, their numbers growing as they crossed an Alberta staggered by drought, grasshoppers and disastrous grain prices. Still more planned to join in Regina, where they were ultimately stopped in a violent melee with police that left two dead. The events around the On-to-Ottawa trek – which helped to precipitate the downfall of the Conservative government led by R.B.

Bennett, the prime minister from Calgary – underscore the long historical arc of Western Canada feeling alienated from those in federal power. “It’s an easy narrative,” said Carissa Halton, an Edmonton political adviser, communications consultant and essayist. But, she added, “it’s not new language they’re introducing.” She worries that those stoking such sentiment today are being reckless, promoting a language for discontent with scant attention to consequences.

“How many people in Britain really fully understood what leaving the EU meant for their jobs, for their livelihoods, for their social services and ability to travel?” she asked. Open this photo in gallery: In the vast rural Ponoka-Didsbury riding in Alberta, many residents voiced a deep sense of Western alienation and a desire for tangible efforts toward reconciliation and better representation.Sarah B. Groot/The Globe and Mail That worry anchors a countercurrent in Alberta among those who have rejected the notion that the province might be better off outside Canada. Sergey Polishchuk immigrated from Ukraine two years ago with his wife and five children.

On a recent afternoon, he was out on a tilled field in southern Alberta, checking the gearboxes on an irrigation pivot. When he hears Albertans talk about secession, he thinks about the country he fled. “We have a lot of trouble in Ukraine because of that,” he said.

“Russia always tries to play with these things,” exploiting divisions in the country to “make war between us.” Look, he said, at the Russian-speaking areas of eastern Ukraine. “They believed that when they are independent, they would start to live better. But it’s not true.” However, such considerations mean little to those for whom Canada remains a place to live – but no longer home.

“I‘m an Albertan before I‘m a Canadian,” said heavy equipment operator Cody Dawson, 36, his voice quiet with conviction. A father of three, he is staggered by the way living costs have risen. He cannot forgive a government that added carbon taxes to those expenses.

For him, loss of faith in Canada has become something more existential, a question of identity. “We need to be separate,” he said. That places him among the roughly 15 per cent of Albertans who are rigid separatists.

Roughly twice that support separatism in concept, said Mr. Muir, the pollster. “Some of these people are just deeply unhappy at a tribal and cultural level with what Canada is, and has become,” Mr. Muir said. “And so they want off the bus.” Still, Mr. Carney represents not merely a new Prime Minister, but a new personality.

Loyalists hope he will be able to reach ears in the West that had closed to Mr. Trudeau. Open this photo in gallery: Liberal candidate and former mayor of Lethbridge Chris Spearman removes campaign signs days after losing to a Conservative candidate in his riding.Nathan VanderKlippe/The Globe and Mail “He’s a calm, thoughtful individual. He’s not likely to incite people,” said Chris Spearman, a former mayor of Lethbridge who ran as a Liberal candidate but lost to a Conservative.

“It’s going to be difficult to change minds,” he said. “But at this point, if anybody can do it, Carney can.” Seven hundred kilometres to the east, in windy Weyburn, Sask., Michele Craigen, 73, was out on a walk with her friend Jaynie Himsl, 67, entertaining thoughts of hope that unity might still be possible. “What we have to understand, all of us, is that we’re part of the same patchwork as a country,” Ms. Craigen said.

“All of this separation nonsense is just born out of our frustration,” Ms. Himsl added. In the distance, clouds dipped close to the earth. The horizon remained visible, but it had narrowed.

“I‘m being optimistic about our new Prime Minister. He has a tough task ahead to bring us all together, but I really want to trust that he has learned from his party’s mistakes and will rise up to do this,” Ms. Himsl said. “He needs to start listening to us more.” THE DECIBEL PODCAST Audio journalist Kasia Mychajlowycz took a cross-country road trip to ask as many Canadians as she could: What is the most important election issue to you, and why?

On this episode of The Decibel, what matters to rural Canada this election. Subscribe for more episodes