Competing Legitimacy in Canadian Substate Nationalism: Comparing Alberta and Québec Separatist Attitudes

The Canadian political landscape is defined by a plurality of political cultures and regionalism (Wiseman, 2008). Its history has been marked by nationalist and separatist movements, most notably in Québec and the Western provinces, particularly in Alberta (Lipset, 1971; Janigan, 2013; Béland and Lecours, 2023). While much has been written about the determinants of support for separatist ideas in each case, little has been done to compare individual-level perceptions of these two movements. This exploratory study aims to fill this gap. The overarching objective of this study is twofold. First, we aim to measure how Canadians evaluate the legitimacy of Québec and Alberta’s claims to nationhood. This includes both how Québecers view Alberta claims to separatism, and vice versa, as well as how other Canadians view both movements Second, we aim to uncover the driving factors that explain sentiments towards these movements. We evaluate whether attitudes towards these provinces broadly correlate with attitudes toward these separatist movements, indicating that evaluations of legitimacy are tied to perceptions of regional sub-groups. Furthermore, we will evaluate whether individual media consumption contributes to evaluations of legitimacy. Overall contributes to a better understanding of substate nationalism in Canada.