SUNDRE - An Alberta separatist running for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre believes the province would be better off without Canada.
Responding to a question about the main issues facing the riding, Carol Nordlund-Kinsey, who is running under the Advantage Party of Alberta’s banner, said the provincial economy is a top priority.
“I believe in Alberta first,” said Nordlund-Kinsey, who is also the party’s president.
Another key policy concern the party has identified – especially in rural ridings – is personal protection and safety, she said, adding police responses all-too-often take far too long.
Born and raised in Alberta, her family had for a few years resided in Lacombe before her late parents eventually settled in Breton, north of Rimbey. She also spent a few years in Edmonton before eventually returning to small-town life. In 2011, she moved to Windfield, which she has since called home.
But it wasn’t until 2014 that she began to develop a taste for politics.
“I was a super fan of Danielle Smith; I really was,” she said. “I thought she was going to do amazing things for this province. And then I was completely betrayed when she crossed the floor…I was sort of lost.”
However, upon researching potential political options, Nordlund-Kinsey said she was left worried by the lack of options.
“I became a separatist – I am a dyed-in-the-wool Alberta separatist. I believe Alberta would be better off if it didn’t have Canada dragging on its coat tails,” she candidly confessed.
Her first political experience was to run in the 2019 provincial election as an independent in Drayton Valley-Devon, where she placed last against seven other candidates with a total of 106 votes, or about 0.42 per cent of the riding.
She eventually found a political upon meeting party leader Marilyn Burns in February 2021. Later that summer, Nordlund-Kinsey had become the party secretary and was elected party president by the membership the following year.
Asked if the Advantage Party of Alberta was to form government and held a referendum on separation that was rejected, whether the party would abandon pursuing the path of independence, she said, “I don’t know if it would cease pursuing the avenue. But the whole premise of our party is that the people rule. If it were to happen that we put a referendum forward and it was a no vote, then the party would move forward governing the province in that regard.”
Pressed as to whether that means the party would respect such an outcome, she said, “Absolutely. Because it’s not about us – it’s about the people we represent.”
