Alberta Votes to Stay in Canada by About Three to One. Unity Won. Now Listen to the Quarter Who Wanted Out.

The facts come first below. My opinion follows in the section marked as opinion.

Voters in Alberta, Canada's oil-rich western province, have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to start down the road toward independence.

With more than 1.5 million votes counted, 76% supported remaining in Canada, while close to 24% backed beginning a process toward separation, according to unofficial results from Elections Alberta cited by the Guardian. Delays at roughly 100 of the province's 1,400 polling stations pushed results back by more than two hours Monday night.

What voters were asked

The vote was not a direct referendum on leaving Canada. The ballot asked whether Alberta should "remain a province of Canada" or whether the provincial government should "commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada," according to Elections Alberta. The results of that question are not binding. It was one of 10 questions on the ballot. The others covered immigration, health care, education and the province's constitutional powers, and Elections Alberta said those results could take days to count, the Guardian reported.

The reaction

Prime Minister Mark Carney, who grew up in the provincial capital of Edmonton, welcomed the result. "Albertans made a clear choice. They chose unity, to build together, and to take care of each other. Above all, Albertans chose Canada," he said, the Guardian reported. Before the vote, he had warned that "a vote against Canada is a dangerous bluff that will lead to years of deep uncertainty and lost opportunities for Albertans and Canadians."

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith posted on social media, the Guardian reported: "Albertans have voted for a stronger Alberta in a united Canada." Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, whose seat is in Alberta, had told supporters, "Canada is more than a government." He added, "It is a people, a flag, a land, a history and a promise." Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas, a staunch opponent of the independence movement, said before the results that his city's "best future is here, as a Canadian city."

Separatists saw a silver lining. "I think the numbers are going to fluctuate, but it is fair to say that at least a quarter of Albertans feel that Alberta needs to be treated better," said Keith Wilson, a leader of the separatist movement. Members of the movement told the Guardian they would keep pushing for independence. Roughly 43% of eligible voters, or 1.3 million Albertans, had already voted before Monday through advance and mail-in ballots, according to Elections Alberta data cited by the Guardian.

Opinion: Unity won. Now listen to the quarter who voted to leave.

This was a good night for Canada, and Americans should be glad of it. A stable, united neighbor to the north is good for both countries. Albertans heard the arguments, weighed them and chose their country by a margin of about three to one. That deserves respect.

So does the minority. When close to a quarter of a province votes to start the process of leaving, that is not a fringe. Wilson put it fairly: many Albertans feel their province "needs to be treated better." Ottawa would be foolish to treat this result as permission to stop listening. A win is the best time to fix what drove people to the edge.

Scripture warns that "if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand." It also teaches that "A soft answer turneth away wrath." Both apply here. Canada stayed whole on Monday. It will stay whole only if the winners answer the grievances with humility instead of gloating. Self-government is a precious thing in any free country, as Dock Line noted in Trump Endorses Netanyahu Ahead of Israel's Oct. 27 Election.