Special mail-in ballot requests surge above 175,000 ahead of Alberta referendum

Monte Solberg is between a rock, a hard place and a divided conservative base. The former Conservative MP and founder of Vote to Stay wants Albertans to believe their “future is stronger within a united Canada than outside of it.” Of all the players trying to sway the Oct. 19 vote — pro-separation and pro-Confederation — his path is the most treacherous. Champions of Alberta separation lean into a grievance culture carefully fed for a decade, especially during the Trudeau years. They have a motivated, sometimes angry base. Progressive “remain” campaigns — Thomas Lukaszuk’s Forever...