Just 14% of Albertans want independence from Canada. Can a conference in a Calgary ballroom change that?

Road to nowhere? A recent poll puts support for Alberta’s independence at 14% despite efforts by Let’s Talk Alberta. Photograph: Abed Zaq/AFP/Getty Images

The debate began with a simple question in a dark Calgary hotel ballroom: does Alberta need Canada?

By the time the audience was asked to vote at the end, more than three-quarters had answered no – a decisive measure of the convictions of a room packed with some of Alberta’s most ardent independence supporters, some of whom had paid C$900 (£480) for a “visionary” weekend pass.