At the Calgary Stampede, a gun was fired at the start of a fight over segregation in Alberta.

“From a political, economic and social point of view, it’s a terrible process to go through,” says former Progressive Conservative Alberta legislator Thomas Lukaczuk.

Lukaszuk’s team, Forever Canadian, recently opened its campaign headquarters in Calgary. He told the BBC that his goal was not to tell Albertans how to vote, but to remind them of what it means to be Canadian and, in his view, the dire consequences of separation.

In 1997, to present the case to Canada. He spent his days driving a camper van loaded with maple leaves to make the case for Canada, handing out pins and lawn signs and talking to potential voters.

The October vote was dismissed as a “referendum” by both sides of the debate, because the question is not directly asking whether the province should secede, but Albertans want to investigate the issue.

Still, many supporters in Canada are taking it as a compelling vote.

“I think we’re all worried that Alberta politics could be consumed by this forever,” Hogan said.