Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch, c.1900.
Alberta was once the Wild, Wild West of Canada, in the much same way that Colorado used to be the Wild, Wild West of the U.S.
Here in Colorado during the late 1800s, we had Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch, the Telluride Trio, the Ham Math Gang, the Reed Brothers… and those were just the more popular outlaws. Even women like Pearl Hart were trying their hand at robbing banks, trains, and stagecoaches.
Although they didn’t get famous enough to have Hollywood movies made about them, the outlaws in Canada kept the banks and railroads trembling in their cowboy boots. Some famous outlaws from Canada:
Bill Miner, known as the Gentleman Bandit, committed one of Canada’s first train robberies. With many robberies before and after.
Ernest Cashel, convicted of murder after a series of crimes.
The McLean Gang, who terrorized Kamloops in the late 1870s.
Albert Johnson, the Mad Trapper of Rat River, who evaded capture for 48 days.
But these outlaws were just ordinary people. They weren’t even politicians. The real outlaws, in the U.S. and in Canada, have always been part of the government.
Most ordinary people are law abiding citizens.
This past Monday, the ordinary people of Alberta rejected a referendum put forward by some government outlaws, with about 75% of Alberta voters clearly indicating their desire to remain a province of Canada. The referendum, nominally led by a group called ‘Let Alberta Decide’, gave the voters a choice to initiate a possible secession from Canada.
Should Alberta remain a province of Canada, or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?
The problem arises from oil. The same thing nearly all problems, these days, seem to arise from.
Canada sits on about 10% of the world’s known oil reserves, putting them in third or fourth place, after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and maybe Iran (depending on how you want to measure and who your politicians are supporting.) And about 90% of Canada’s oil production comes out of Alberta, with about 80% of Canada’s oil delivered to the U.S.
Daily Post readers may have heard about the tensions between the government in Washington and the government in Ottawa. Apparently, those tensions have resulted in plans for an expanded Canadian pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast, so more oil can be sent to Asia. The amount of oil delivered to the U.S. dropped slightly from 2024 to 2025. Kind of a middle finger to the U.S.
On October 3, 2026, a Globe and Mail investigation found that political operatives tied to the U.S. Republican Party were assisting the campaign for Alberta to secede. It seems that maybe some of the Alberta separatist leaders visited with U.S. Department of State officials and were offered royalties on crude oil.
Probably that was just more fake news coming from the Canadian media… but still, the premier of neighboring British Columbia, David Eby, called the invitation of foreign interference by the separatist movement “treason”. Other Canadian lawmakers called for updating Canadian laws on treason and foreign election interference.
In my humble opinion, you can update your laws as much as you want, but outlaws will still be outlaws.
I mentioned above one of Colorado’s popular outlaws, Pearl Hart, one of the few Colorado women to attempt a stagecoach robbery. But Pearl was actually born in Canada, and lived in Colorado for only a short period. Still, we claim her as one of our own. When you have a shortage of female outlaws, you take what you can get.
Turns out, the robbery — which took place in Arizona — was botched and only a small amount of money was stolen. Pearl and her accomplice, “Joe Boot”, were captured and Pearl spent a couple of years in the Yuma Territorial Prison before she received a pardon from Arizona Governor Alexander Brodie.
This story about Pearl Hart has little relationship to what happened in Alberta on Monday. But it goes to illustrate the fact that even people born in Canada can wind up as outlaws.
We probably ought to name the leaders of the Alberta separatist movement, since they might be “traitors”. In December 2025, following court decisions that cast doubt on the legality of a separatist referendum petition, Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party government passed Bill 14, legislation that removed advance constitutional screening and allowed the referendum to proceed. So, Danielle Smith could be seen as one possible traitor.
Other potential outlaws:
Jeffrey Rath, lawyer and former Progressive Conservative Party fundraiser.
Dennis Modry, physician and Alberta Prosperity Project co-founder, documented supporter and donor to Danielle Smith’s former Wildrose Party.
Mitch Sylvestre, a regional leader within Take Back Alberta, the movement that supported Danielle Smith’s leadership bid.
So, mostly male outlaws.
And also, a least one woman. Or so it seemed…
…until, prior to election day, Premier Danielle Smith announced that she was voting “No” on the secession referendum. She was joined on Monday by about 75% of Alberta voters.
Probably didn’t win her any friends among the outlaws of Alberta.
Or among the outlaws in Washington DC, for that matter.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.