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Separation, whether Alberta alone or in tandem with other Western provinces — there’s a Wexit Saskatchewan wing, too — requires a few things, Downing says. A party and a leader, for starters. But he says it also requires voters to put Trudeau back into the prime minister’s office on Oct. 21.

“There are many proud Canadians, however, if Justin Trudeau is re-elected on Oct. 21, they will be joining the separatist movement on Oct. 22 — watch the movement explode,” Downing predicted.

It’s a catalyst, of sorts, at a time when there is terrific frustration in Alberta, limping along in a prolonged recession, but when there are no avowed separatists in the Alberta legislature, and certainly not among the major party leaders.

Downing is carefully spoken in his interview with the Post, adroitly avoiding the unglued rhetoric and bigotry that often accompanies talk of separation online. He dismisses a query about racism; his wife isn’t white and English isn’t her first language, he says. And part of his agenda is to support Indigenous groups in Alberta fighting lawsuits, say, against the federal government over historical treatment.

Downing may, or may not, be the leader; he says the movement is bigger than him. If he’s not the guy out talking about it, he says, someone else will be doing it.

The cries for separation, and a credible separation option have been ramping up

He’s come to the separation movement after a stint in other roles. He was an RCMP officer, but left the force in the years following a conditional discharge for uttering threats against his ex-wife in a December 2009 confrontation. Court documents say his ex-wife alleged he cut his hand punching a fan and wrote “bitch” or “something like that” on the bedspread in blood, before threatening to throw her out the window; Downing denied the accusations at the time.