EDMONTON—Hundreds of Albertans packed the Boot Scootin’ Boogie Dancehall in northeast Edmonton on Saturday to lend their support to Wexit, an Alberta separation movement that saw a surge of support after the federal election.

According to staff at the venue, the dance hall met its capacity, which is 700 people.

The event included many Albertans wearing hats with the slogans “The West Wants Out,” “Republic of Alberta” and “Make Alberta Great Again.” People said they came from places such as Cold Lake, Red Deer, Edson and Lloydminster.

Berva Sawley said she’s felt sympathetic toward the idea of Alberta secession since it first emerged as a real sentiment in 1980, when Pierre Trudeau was re-elected.

But she said the recent federal election made her realize the time for Alberta independence is now.

“We have no representation in the west,” Sawley said. “Toronto and Montreal I think have more seats than Alberta, and yet more people voted for Conservative than Trudeau and yet we still get Trudeau as prime minister.

“I‘m tired of working and sending all my money to the east,” she added.

Peter Downing, Wexit’s leader, said the movement is about “economic liberty, social stability and self-determination.”

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He is in the process of collecting signatures to form a federal political party that would aim to hold a referendum on Alberta separation.

“Monday morning we are going to be filing our application with Elections Canada for the official registration of Wexit Canada,” Downing said to the enthusiastic crowd.

“We’re going to do for Western Canada and Alberta in particular what the Bloc Québécois does for Quebec — but the only difference is we’re cutting the parasite of Eastern Canada off from our necks.”

Downing said an independent Alberta would emphasize low taxes, a robust oil and gas sector, minimal government interference and strong support for businesses. He also underlined the importance of improving the conditions of Indigenous communities in Alberta.

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This is not Downing’s first foray into political activism.

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He is the executive director of Alberta Fights Back, a registered third-party political advertiser that previously ran billboards in Edmonton in June that said, “Is Trudeau leading us to civil war?” At that time, Downing told Star Edmonton he believed Pizzagate, a debunked conspiracy theory linking high-ranking Democrats including Hillary Clinton to a child sex-trafficking ring, had some merit.

After the rally, some supporters of Wexit said while they were pleased to see the movement’s momentum, they’re not sure where it’s going to go from here.

“We know what we want to get and what we want to achieve, but there’s no mention of how we’re going to get there,” attendee Adam Yates said. “We actually need to get a little bit more organization and find out what Wexit needs from us.”

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