CALGARY - 石油资源丰富的阿尔伯塔省周一举行了一场不具约束力的公投，就该西部省份是否脱离加拿大进行表决，许多人认为，这场辩论不会因分离主义事业普遍预期将遭遇的失败而平息。
CALGARY - Oil-rich Alberta was holding a nonbinding referendum on Monday on whether the western province should secede from Canada, a debate many believe will not be settled by what is widely expected to be a defeat for the separatist cause.
民调一直显示，多数阿尔伯塔省选民反对脱离加拿大。经济不满情绪推动了该省的独立运动，该省人口500万，面积略小于得克萨斯州，但人口仅为该州的六分之一。
Polls have consistently shown that a majority of Alberta voters oppose splitting from Canada. Economic grievances have fueled the independence campaign in the province, which is home to 5 million people and slightly smaller than Texas but with one-sixth of the U.S. state’s population.
阿尔伯塔省的分离主义运动给加拿大总理马克·卡尼带来了压力，卡尼将捍卫国家主权作为核心使命，以应对美国的关税以及美国总统唐纳德·特朗普反复呼吁加拿大成为第51个州的主张。
The Alberta separatist movement adds to the pressures on Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has made defending the country’s sovereignty a central mission as he confronts U.S. tariffs and President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for Canada to become the 51st state.