Throughout the referendum campaign, CBC News used First Person writing, community focus groups and small engagement pop-ups to understand why Albertans were planning to vote the way they were. We met many people on both sides of the debate.

Now that the results have come in, with three-quarters of Albertans voting to stay in Canada, we reached out to some of the community members who supported the other side to see how they feel and what they would like to see happen next. There were many emotions — hope, disappointment, contentment.

‘This isn’t a hidden conversation anymore’ Vicky Bayford saw the results when she finished scrutineering early Tuesday morning. She had been hopeful, watching numbers near 50 per cent for Option 2 from her polling station in Innisfail, a town of nearly 9,000 people an hour’s drive north of Calgary. Bayford said the provincewide tally of 25 per cent was disappointing, but not surprising.

“I’ve always known this was going to be an uphill battle.”Bayford works in oil and gas, and has been heavily involved with separatism since 2020. She believes Option 2 lost because many conservatives decided to give Premier Danielle Smith a chance to make changes within Canada.

But Bayford also believes the last 18 months of work have been a boon to the independence movement, despite the loss.

“This isn’t a hidden conversation anymore like it was when I got involved in 2020,” she said. “Now at least it’s on the radar.”Friendships were formed as supporters signed petitions and attended town halls. Pro-independence organizations will make sure that social aspect doesn’t go away, she said.

But there is something she does hope will change. Bayford wrote a First Person piece for CBC News during the campaign, and then sat down to discuss it with three other First Person authors on CBC's . One of the authors, Matthew Morin, is gay.

“One thing he said really stuck out to me,” she said. “He made that comment that, you know, he agreed with a lot of the sentiments that Albertans are feeling, but he didn't know if there was a place for him in [the vision of] Alberta that he was seeing from the leaders of the independence movement.”

“That was pretty eye-opening to me,” she said. “This movement will never be successful unless we can get the consensus from Albertans that we're all Albertans.”

“I hope people start being a little more gentle with each other … and now that this is over, that we can just start having more calmer conversations.”

‘I think the world can become more volatile’ Morin, the author that Bayford mentioned, wrote a First Person column for CBC News about how the precarity of life today — and the feeling that those in charge don’t care — is fuelling his interest in independence.

He thought much of the support for separatism in Alberta should be seen as a protest vote. Reached after the referendum, he said that’s why he’s not surprised at the results.

“People are angry and that's why the nine questions got over 50 per cent or around 50 per cent. But they’re not angry enough to look to for separation.”

“So we'll see where it goes. 'Cause I think the world can become more volatile,” he said. “If the government doesn't actually enact any tangible change [to benefit people’s everyday lives], then people will just continue to get more frustrated and angry.”Post-referendum, political analysts have been wondering how the referendum results will affect Premier Danielle Smith’s leadership, and if the committed separatists within her party will agitate to push her out.

Morin is not a committed separatist, but has been a Smith supporter. He door-knocked for her in the last election and joined the UCP so that he could vote for her leadership.

“I thought she was grassroots and would make a difference,” he said. “And she's made some differences. I mean, some differences were good and some were bad. That's with any politician.”But at the moment, he doesn’t stand behind her the same way.

“In my ideal world, the government will use [this mandate] as a way to build policy that informs lower immigration, more control over crime, increasing affordable housing and building more housing, increasing funding for social programs and resources.

“And that they’d understand that people are just frustrated and instead of saying that everything's fine, maybe standing up on a podium and saying 'we hear you,' which is not really what I felt like I got from a lot of the politicians.”‘We continue to be the rebel alliance’Alex Krull came home after a 12-hour shift at an oilsands mine to catch the referendum results. He was disappointed votes in favour of having a binding referendum on separation didn’t hit 33 per cent, but still proud of everything the movement accomplished.

Earlier this fall, Prime Minister Mark Carney came to his workplace to announce the Pacific Link pipeline has been deemed to be in the national interest — and that’s due to the separatists’ agitation, he argues.

“It was very amusing as we're almost ground zero for separatism. A lot of us are high income, high tax paying, blue collar individuals. So we're definitely not your typical liberal supporters. But yeah, there he was.

“I've been following the mainstream media quite a bit since the referendum and they're completely dismissing the impact that our movement had on federal-provincial politics. They're saying things like the federal Liberals were already moving in this direction,” he said.

“I would strongly contend that. I think that our movement brought a lot of attention to the province, and we've seen a lot of capitulation from Ottawa on topics that I don't think we would have had, had we not had this form of rebellion.”Krull volunteered with the independence campaign in Fort McMurray, collecting signatures to get the question on the ballot. The experience left him feeling that ordinary Albertans can make a difference, and he plans to stay involved, watching from the sidelines to see where he can help. That might be with a separatist party in the future, depending on how the political situation evolves, he said.

“Danielle Smith is in a dilly of a pickle ‘cause a big chunk of her support are separatist. So she's come out staunchly stating that the UCP going forward is a federalist party and that's how it is. So I think in 2027, Alberta, UCP has a big problem,” he said.

“But as far as the separatist movement, I think we continue to apply the pressure; we continue to be the rebel alliance against the Ottawa empire. Without that resistance, the status quo will overwhelm us, and I guess that's what democracy is.”

‘If we’re not ready for change, we’re not ready for change’ Brad Osadczuk is a rancher near Jenner, Alta., about 200 kilometres east of Calgary. He was driving his empty cattle liner back from a feedlot, where he left a load of calves, when he took a phone call from CBC News.

Osadczuk is separatist curious. He says Monday’s results didn’t surprise him, but he was disappointed because he wanted to at least advance to the next step and have a serious look at what an independent Alberta could mean.

“I’m a businessman, so I like to see the details of a deal,” he said. “It may not ever work, [but] I would have loved to see what it would look like.”Osadczuk spoke with CBC News during the campaign about his frustration with Ottawa — how much power is centralized in the east and how the bureaucracy is out of touch with the reality on the ground. He said he hopes this vote will help Alberta keep pushing for more authority.

“The feds see the results of this referendum, too,” he said. “I hope that maybe we can see some more goodwill and some work towards what Alberta would like out of this federation. I hope that there was a message sent.”As for what happens next?

“We just keep living our lives. … If we’re not ready for change, we’re not ready for change.”“I’m really sorry that people see this referendum as divisive. I see it as 100 per cent democracy. This was a government serving the people, not serving an agenda,” he said, adding that he hopes emotions will now settle down. “I’m so tired of divisiveness.”

‘We can continue to stand for what's right’ During the campaign, Daymond Khan met with CBC News as part of a focus group at Southside Victory Church in Calgary, where he said the feeling that Canada was losing touch with its traditional Christian values pushed him to favour separatism.

But after the vote, he says he’s content with the outcome. He voted for Option 2, but never expected it to win and never wanted Alberta to actually leave.

“I'd like to see Alberta treated better within our federation, and I'd like to see the general direction of our nation and our federal government change,” he said. And he’s already seeing positive signs.

“Economically, we see the federal support for the West Coast pipeline, which will hopefully help to turn the tide on seeing more major projects and investments in Canada,” he said. “Then on the moral side of things, we saw medical assistance in dying not get expanded to people who are just struggling with mental health challenges.

“I think that's a great decision by our leaders in Ottawa to not open that piece up.”

He believes the vote is giving Alberta more leverage. He says he takes to heart something Southside Victory’s Pastor Craig Buroker said recently in a sermon that the name Alberta is a variant of Albert, a name that means “noble and bright.”

“That was a good way to frame the calling of Alberta in our country and in general. So I'm confident that we can continue to stand for what's right and not necessarily be quiet about it.”