Voters in Canada's Alberta province cast their ballots in a nonbinding independence referendum on Oct. 19, with 76.4% of participants voting to remain in Canada and 23.6% voting to pursue a binding independence referendum, CTV News reported on Oct. 20. In response to the results, Prime Minister Mark Carney said, "Albertans chose Canada," while Thomas Lukaszuk, a former provincial lawmaker and a member of the anti-secession Forever Canadian organization, said the vote "will send a very strong message to the rest of the world: Don't mess with Canada."