CTV News Edmonton has reported:

Lloydminster could face major uncertainty if Alberta separates from Canada, residents and a former mayor say, because the border city relies on a shared arrangement between Alberta and Saskatchewan for its government and services. The city of about 32,000 people is divided by the provincial boundary, and residents have lived in one community spanning two provinces for more than a century.

Albertans are voting on 10 referendum questions, including whether the province should remain in Canada or hold a binding second referendum on leaving the country. Advance polls are open from Oct. 13 to 17, and the final day to vote in the referendum is Oct. 19. The debate has reached Lloydminster as voters consider what a separation process could mean for their community.

Steve Boyce, who does business on both sides of the border like thousands of Lloydminster residents, expects the prospect would bring complications. He called separation “a headache.” “It wouldn’t turn out the way people think,” he said. “It is a messy thing. I cannot imagine it being straightforward.”

Residents in the Alberta and Saskatchewan portions of Lloydminster live in harmony and depend on services located on both sides of the boundary. The RCMP detachment is in Alberta, while the city’s only hospital operates in Saskatchewan. Schools use Saskatchewan’s curriculum, and municipal government is governed by a charter approved by both provinces.

Former Lloydminster mayor Jeff Mulligan said the agreement was designed to support the city’s cross-border administration, but he questioned how it could continue if Alberta became a separate country. “That charter is signed on by two provinces, not a province and a separate country,” he said. “This is not an international agreement.”

The charter sets out the framework for Lloydminster’s administration and governance, giving city council the same authority held by municipalities elsewhere in Alberta and Saskatchewan. It also lets legislation from one province apply across the whole city when that can help operations run seamlessly. Mulligan believes the charter would cease to exist if Alberta separated.

“Things as simple and as basic and foundational to Lloydminster’s existence would be thrown out and have to be restructured,” Mulligan said. He questioned how the municipality would function during any interim period and suspects it could be left aside while governments dealt with other matters.

“Who would address this very small sector of the population in Alberta, when the bigger sector of the population has big concerns?” he said. “There would be very little focus on Lloydminster by either side and it would be left to its own devices.”

Mulligan also warned that uncertainty could affect businesses and investment. “Economically, it would be a tragedy,” he said. He is a senior advisor at Astec Safety Inc. and has run businesses in the border city for 30 years. Even discussion of leaving Canada, he said, can create instability and make the market less attractive to potential investors.

He is concerned about how Alberta might be viewed internationally after the referendum debate settles. “The results of this discussion on the referendum would be devastating to our economy and devastating to our city in the near and midterm,” he said.

Views among voters in Lloydminster are mixed. Many lined up at the city’s only polling station on the first day of advance voting. Larrin Thiessen, who grew up in Lloydminster and is in his early 20s, told CTV News outside the station, “I thought it was important.”

Thiessen said separation had become a frequent subject among his friends. “It is the first time that I have noticed that people my age have all been talking about going to vote,” he said. He did not disclose how he voted, but said “there needs to be some sort of change.”

“I am a young, working Canadian and I think that it is important to have your voice heard, especially because this could affect my future and my future kids’ future,” Thiessen said.

Brad McLeod, who has lived in Lloydminster for more than 40 years, was open about his preference after voting in advance polls. “I hope that Western Canada becomes a republic of their own, so they do not have to answer to Ottawa any longer,” he said. He said he was frustrated with how the federal government had treated Albertans over several decades, adding: “The challenge we have is Ottawa draining our finances constantly and treating us like we don’t exist.”

Other voters said they were dissatisfied with the federal government but thought separation would make matters worse. Shirley Davidson said, “I think it would be terrible. It would cost us so much.”