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A separatist in Alberta is stepping up his fight against a southern city with a three-metre high and six meter wide billboard urging the province to leave Canada.
Cory Morgan said the sign he paid for still stands in Taber and contradicts a letter he said the city sent earlier this month to the billboard’s private owner demanding the message be removed Saturday.
The electronic billboard, located in the city area, shows an Alberta shield surrounded by the words: “Send a Message to Ottawa! Vote for Alberta.” Morgan said he paid about $1,100 for it through the end of this month.
Morgan said he won’t let Taber push him and he has paid for two smaller signs in the city since receiving the letter, with a third to be installed on Sunday.
“I have nothing against Taber per se,” Morgan said in a telephone interview Sunday.
“There are wonderful people (there). It’s a neat area... It’s just their city administration that’s getting me into a bit of trouble right now.”
He said his fight against the city of 10,000 people was based on the principle that third-party political advertisers should not be silenced by the government.
“It’s a troubling precedent,” he said.
“(Tabers) have to stay on the potholes, pick up trash and catch dogs. It’s not their job to tell people what they can or cannot see on legal billboards.”
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The city of Taber, located 265 kilometers southeast of Calgary, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday but previously said it had heard a lot of concerns about the billboard’s first message.
It said in a June 3 social media post that its message was not representative or representative of the city or the broader community.
That same day, in a letter obtained by The Canadian Press, the city’s chief administrative officer Derrin Thibault sent a letter to the billboard operator requesting that the sign be taken down by the end of this week.
“The city has received numerous concerns regarding political content currently displayed on digital boards,” Thibault wrote.
“Continuous display of advertising subjects constitutes a nuisance and is inconsistent with the permitted use of the licensed area.”
Morgan said the signs are related to the referendum vote on Oct. 19 on whether Alberta should remain in Canada or begin the process of holding a second, binding referendum on leaving Canada.
He said he chose Taber simply because there was billboard space available at the right price range.
Morgan said he didn’t expect the sign to get so much negative and positive attention.
He said he has heard from many supporters of Alberta’s independence movement and has raised more money to erect more signs ahead of the referendum.
But he said he also heard from federalists who were hurt by the move and had difficulty finding other places in Alberta to put up the signs.
“I understand people may be disappointed on both sides,” he said.
However, he hopes that other cities will not cause difficulties like those experienced by Taber.
“It’s just going to make things worse,” he said.
” So maybe just comply with your city mandates, and we will continue the campaign for these four months.”
Alberta’s separation debate is expected to last into the summer. Smith has been criticized for holding the vote. But he said he was obliged to hold one because hundreds of thousands of Albertans have weighed in on the debate in the petition campaign and are entitled to have their say.
Critics, including the opposition NDP, say Smith is playing a double game: allowing the referendum to appease separatist hardliners in his party while campaigning to remain in Canada to remain on the side of centrist voters.
Polls show the majority of Albertans oppose secession.
© 2026 Canadian Press
