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Premier Rachel Notley knows exactly where she stands on this Alberta separatism thing.

“I say that my Canada includes Alberta, and my Alberta is part of Canada,” she says in a year-end interview.

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“We have an obligation as political leaders to find a solution. We absolutely have to find a solution.

“Nobody wins in the (separatist) scenario . . . what we need to do is continue to push the federal government to get the job done and we have to show leadership in Alberta to get the job done.”

Notley is on the right side of today’s polls. They show that nearly 70 per cent of Albertans oppose the idea of separation from Canada, and most say it vehemently.

Photo by David_Bloom David Bloom / David Bloom/Postmedia

It’s still remarkable, though, that nearly 25 per cent of those surveyed had a positive attitude toward separation.

Separatist feeling is a persistent theme in Alberta history when national conflict flares. A separatist party, Western Canada Concept, won a legislature seat and 12 per cent of the provincial vote in 1982.